diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/MongoTemplate.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/MongoTemplate.java
index 26c961609..beab06007 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/MongoTemplate.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/MongoTemplate.java
@@ -700,10 +700,9 @@ public class MongoTemplate implements MongoOperations, ApplicationContextAware {
 
 		initializeVersionProperty(objectToSave);
 
-		BasicDBObject dbDoc = new BasicDBObject();
-
 		maybeEmitEvent(new BeforeConvertEvent<T>(objectToSave));
-		writer.write(objectToSave, dbDoc);
+
+		DBObject dbDoc = toDbObject(objectToSave, writer);
 
 		maybeEmitEvent(new BeforeSaveEvent<T>(objectToSave, dbDoc));
 		Object id = insertDBObject(collectionName, dbDoc, objectToSave.getClass());
@@ -712,6 +711,26 @@ public class MongoTemplate implements MongoOperations, ApplicationContextAware {
 		maybeEmitEvent(new AfterSaveEvent<T>(objectToSave, dbDoc));
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @param objectToSave
+	 * @param writer
+	 * @return
+	 */
+	private <T> DBObject toDbObject(T objectToSave, MongoWriter<T> writer) {
+
+		if (!(objectToSave instanceof String)) {
+			DBObject dbDoc = new BasicDBObject();
+			writer.write(objectToSave, dbDoc);
+			return dbDoc;
+		} else {
+			try {
+				return (DBObject) JSON.parse((String) objectToSave);
+			} catch (JSONParseException e) {
+				throw new MappingException("Could not parse given String to save into a JSON document!", e);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
 	private void initializeVersionProperty(Object entity) {
 
 		MongoPersistentEntity<?> mongoPersistentEntity = getPersistentEntity(entity.getClass());
@@ -851,19 +870,9 @@ public class MongoTemplate implements MongoOperations, ApplicationContextAware {
 
 		assertUpdateableIdIfNotSet(objectToSave);
 
-		DBObject dbDoc = new BasicDBObject();
-
 		maybeEmitEvent(new BeforeConvertEvent<T>(objectToSave));
 
-		if (!(objectToSave instanceof String)) {
-			writer.write(objectToSave, dbDoc);
-		} else {
-			try {
-				dbDoc = (DBObject) JSON.parse((String) objectToSave);
-			} catch (JSONParseException e) {
-				throw new MappingException("Could not parse given String to save into a JSON document!", e);
-			}
-		}
+		DBObject dbDoc = toDbObject(objectToSave, writer);
 
 		maybeEmitEvent(new BeforeSaveEvent<T>(objectToSave, dbDoc));
 		Object id = saveDBObject(collectionName, dbDoc, objectToSave.getClass());
diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/MongoTemplateTests.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/MongoTemplateTests.java
index 16a3a05f4..febdcdf60 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/MongoTemplateTests.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/MongoTemplateTests.java
@@ -1996,6 +1996,24 @@ public class MongoTemplateTests {
 		assertThat(result.get(2).getClass(), is((Object) VerySpecialDoc.class));
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @see DATAMONGO-771
+	 */
+	@Test
+	public void allowInsertWithPlainJsonString() {
+
+		String id = "4711";
+		String value = "bubu";
+		String json = String.format("{_id:%s, field: '%s'}", id, value);
+
+		template.insert(json, "sample");
+		List<Sample> result = template.findAll(Sample.class);
+
+		assertThat(result.size(), is(1));
+		assertThat(result.get(0).id, is(id));
+		assertThat(result.get(0).field, is(value));
+	}
+
 	static interface Model {
 		String value();