diff --git a/recipes/nytimes.recipe b/recipes/nytimes.recipe
index 5857394295..3d70106339 100644
--- a/recipes/nytimes.recipe
+++ b/recipes/nytimes.recipe
@@ -186,7 +186,8 @@ class NewYorkTimes(BasicNewsRecipe):
         soup = self.read_nyt_metadata()
         script = soup.findAll('script', text=lambda x: x and 'window.__preloadedData' in x)[0]
         script = type(u'')(script)
-        data = json.loads(script[script.find('{'):script.rfind(';')].strip().rstrip(';'))['initialState']
+        json_data = script[script.find('{'):script.rfind(';')].strip().rstrip(';')
+        data = json.loads(json_data.replace(':undefined', ':null'))['initialState']
         containers, sections = {}, {}
         article_map = {}
         gc_pat = re.compile(r'groupings.(\d+).containers.(\d+)')
diff --git a/recipes/nytimes_sub.recipe b/recipes/nytimes_sub.recipe
index 81cd96c7b6..16bf745f52 100644
--- a/recipes/nytimes_sub.recipe
+++ b/recipes/nytimes_sub.recipe
@@ -186,7 +186,8 @@ class NewYorkTimes(BasicNewsRecipe):
         soup = self.read_nyt_metadata()
         script = soup.findAll('script', text=lambda x: x and 'window.__preloadedData' in x)[0]
         script = type(u'')(script)
-        data = json.loads(script[script.find('{'):script.rfind(';')].strip().rstrip(';'))['initialState']
+        json_data = script[script.find('{'):script.rfind(';')].strip().rstrip(';')
+        data = json.loads(json_data.replace(':undefined', ':null'))['initialState']
         containers, sections = {}, {}
         article_map = {}
         gc_pat = re.compile(r'groupings.(\d+).containers.(\d+)')