diff --git a/src/stage1_find_marks.cpp b/src/stage1_find_marks.cpp
index 52aa7b483..27cb7687c 100644
--- a/src/stage1_find_marks.cpp
+++ b/src/stage1_find_marks.cpp
@@ -295,6 +295,50 @@ really_inline void find_whitespace_and_structurals(simd_input in,
   // space 0x20, linefeed 0x0a, horizontal tab 0x09 and carriage return 0x0d
   // these go into the next 2 buckets of the comparison (8/16)
 #ifdef __AVX2__
+#ifdef SIMDJSON_NAIVE_STRUCTURAL
+  // You should never need this naive approach, but it can be useful
+  // for research purposes
+  const __m256i mask_open_brace = _mm256_set1_epi8(0x7b);
+  __m256i struct_lo = _mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.lo, mask_open_brace);
+  __m256i struct_hi = _mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.hi, mask_open_brace);
+  const __m256i mask_close_brace = _mm256_set1_epi8(0x7d);
+  struct_lo = _mm256_or_si256(struct_lo,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.lo, mask_close_brace));
+  struct_hi = _mm256_or_si256(struct_hi,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.hi, mask_close_brace));
+  const __m256i mask_open_bracket = _mm256_set1_epi8(0x5b);
+  struct_lo = _mm256_or_si256(struct_lo,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.lo, mask_open_bracket));
+  struct_hi = _mm256_or_si256(struct_hi,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.hi, mask_open_bracket));
+  const __m256i mask_close_bracket = _mm256_set1_epi8(0x5d);
+  struct_lo = _mm256_or_si256(struct_lo,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.lo, mask_close_bracket));
+  struct_hi = _mm256_or_si256(struct_hi,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.hi, mask_close_bracket));
+  const __m256i mask_column = _mm256_set1_epi8(0x3a);
+  struct_lo = _mm256_or_si256(struct_lo,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.lo, mask_column));
+  struct_hi = _mm256_or_si256(struct_hi,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.hi, mask_column));
+  const __m256i mask_comma = _mm256_set1_epi8(0x2c);
+  struct_lo = _mm256_or_si256(struct_lo,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.lo, mask_comma));
+  struct_hi = _mm256_or_si256(struct_hi,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.hi, mask_comma));
+  uint64_t structural_res_0 = static_cast<uint32_t>(_mm256_movemask_epi8(struct_lo));
+  uint64_t structural_res_1 = _mm256_movemask_epi8(struct_hi);
+  structurals = (structural_res_0 | (structural_res_1 << 32));
+
+  const __m256i mask_space = _mm256_set1_epi8(0x20);
+  __m256i space_lo = _mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.lo, mask_space);
+  __m256i space_hi = _mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.hi, mask_space);
+  const __m256i mask_linefeed = _mm256_set1_epi8(0x0a);
+  space_lo = _mm256_or_si256(space_lo,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.lo, mask_linefeed));
+  space_hi = _mm256_or_si256(space_hi,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.hi, mask_linefeed));
+  const __m256i mask_tab = _mm256_set1_epi8(0x09);
+  space_lo = _mm256_or_si256(space_lo,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.lo, mask_tab));
+  space_hi = _mm256_or_si256(space_hi,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.hi, mask_tab));
+  const __m256i mask_carriage = _mm256_set1_epi8(0x0d);
+  space_lo = _mm256_or_si256(space_lo,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.lo, mask_carriage));
+  space_hi = _mm256_or_si256(space_hi,_mm256_cmpeq_epi8(in.hi, mask_carriage));
+
+  uint64_t ws_res_0 = static_cast<uint32_t>(_mm256_movemask_epi8(space_lo));
+  uint64_t ws_res_1 = _mm256_movemask_epi8(space_hi);
+  whitespace = (ws_res_0 | (ws_res_1 << 32));
+  // end of naive approach
+
+#else // SIMDJSON_NAIVE_STRUCTURAL
   const __m256i low_nibble_mask = _mm256_setr_epi8(
       16, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 8, 12, 1, 2, 9, 0, 0, 
       16, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 8, 12, 1, 2, 9, 0, 0);
@@ -334,6 +378,7 @@ really_inline void find_whitespace_and_structurals(simd_input in,
   uint64_t ws_res_0 = static_cast<uint32_t>(_mm256_movemask_epi8(tmp_ws_lo));
   uint64_t ws_res_1 = _mm256_movemask_epi8(tmp_ws_hi);
   whitespace = ~(ws_res_0 | (ws_res_1 << 32));
+#endif // SIMDJSON_NAIVE_STRUCTURAL
 #elif defined(__ARM_NEON)
 #ifndef FUNKY_BAD_TABLE
   const uint8x16_t low_nibble_mask = (uint8x16_t){