diff --git a/mapstructure.go b/mapstructure.go
index 7581806a..2b16c4f3 100644
--- a/mapstructure.go
+++ b/mapstructure.go
@@ -265,6 +265,10 @@ type DecoderConfig struct {
 	// defaults to "mapstructure"
 	TagName string
 
+	// The name of the value in the tag that indicates a field should
+	// be squashed. This defaults to "squash".
+	SquashName string
+
 	// IgnoreUntaggedFields ignores all struct fields without explicit
 	// TagName, comparable to `mapstructure:"-"` as default behaviour.
 	IgnoreUntaggedFields bool
@@ -400,6 +404,10 @@ func NewDecoder(config *DecoderConfig) (*Decoder, error) {
 		config.TagName = "mapstructure"
 	}
 
+	if config.SquashName == "" {
+		config.SquashName = "squash"
+	}
+
 	if config.MatchName == nil {
 		config.MatchName = strings.EqualFold
 	}
@@ -945,7 +953,7 @@ func (d *Decoder) decodeMapFromStruct(name string, dataVal reflect.Value, val re
 			}
 
 			// If "squash" is specified in the tag, we squash the field down.
-			squash = squash || strings.Index(tagValue[index+1:], "squash") != -1
+			squash = squash || strings.Contains(tagValue[index+1:], d.config.SquashName)
 			if squash {
 				// When squashing, the embedded type can be a pointer to a struct.
 				if v.Kind() == reflect.Ptr && v.Elem().Kind() == reflect.Struct {
@@ -1321,7 +1329,7 @@ func (d *Decoder) decodeStructFromMap(name string, dataVal, val reflect.Value) e
 			// We always parse the tags cause we're looking for other tags too
 			tagParts := strings.Split(fieldType.Tag.Get(d.config.TagName), ",")
 			for _, tag := range tagParts[1:] {
-				if tag == "squash" {
+				if tag == d.config.SquashName {
 					squash = true
 					break
 				}
diff --git a/mapstructure_test.go b/mapstructure_test.go
index d31129d7..9aa03fdc 100644
--- a/mapstructure_test.go
+++ b/mapstructure_test.go
@@ -48,6 +48,10 @@ type BasicSquash struct {
 	Test Basic `mapstructure:",squash"`
 }
 
+type BasicJSONInline struct {
+	Test Basic `json:",inline"`
+}
+
 type Embedded struct {
 	Basic
 	Vunique string
@@ -476,6 +480,62 @@ func TestDecodeFrom_BasicSquash(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestDecode_BasicJSONInline(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	input := map[string]interface{}{
+		"vstring": "foo",
+	}
+
+	var result BasicJSONInline
+	d, err := NewDecoder(&DecoderConfig{TagName: "json", SquashName: "inline", Result: &result})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("got an err: %s", err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if err := d.Decode(input); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("got an err: %s", err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if result.Test.Vstring != "foo" {
+		t.Errorf("vstring value should be 'foo': %#v", result.Test.Vstring)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestDecodeFrom_BasicJSONInline(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	var v interface{}
+	var ok bool
+
+	input := BasicJSONInline{
+		Test: Basic{
+			Vstring: "foo",
+		},
+	}
+
+	var result map[string]interface{}
+	d, err := NewDecoder(&DecoderConfig{TagName: "json", SquashName: "inline", Result: &result})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("got an err: %s", err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if err := d.Decode(input); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("got an err: %s", err.Error())
+	}
+
+	if _, ok = result["Test"]; ok {
+		t.Error("test should not be present in map")
+	}
+
+	v, ok = result["Vstring"]
+	if !ok {
+		t.Error("vstring should be present in map")
+	} else if !reflect.DeepEqual(v, "foo") {
+		t.Errorf("vstring value should be 'foo': %#v", v)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestDecode_Embedded(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()