diff --git a/src/synonym_index.cpp b/src/synonym_index.cpp
index eeb40e43..7a0293f3 100644
--- a/src/synonym_index.cpp
+++ b/src/synonym_index.cpp
@@ -262,7 +262,10 @@ nlohmann::json synonym_t::to_view_json() const {
     }
 
     if(!symbols.empty()) {
-        obj["symbols"] = symbols;
+        obj["symbols"] = nlohmann::json::array();
+        for(char c: symbols) {
+            obj["symbols"].push_back(std::string(1, c));
+        }
     }
 
     return obj;
diff --git a/test/collection_synonyms_test.cpp b/test/collection_synonyms_test.cpp
index cf49f4f9..0a5ee304 100644
--- a/test/collection_synonyms_test.cpp
+++ b/test/collection_synonyms_test.cpp
@@ -96,6 +96,11 @@ TEST_F(CollectionSynonymsTest, SynonymParsingFromJson) {
     ASSERT_STREQ("plus", synonym_plus.synonyms[0][0].c_str());
     ASSERT_STREQ("#", synonym_plus.synonyms[1][0].c_str());
 
+    nlohmann::json view_json = synonym_plus.to_view_json();
+    ASSERT_EQ(2, view_json["symbols"].size());
+    ASSERT_EQ("+", view_json["symbols"][0].get<std::string>());
+    ASSERT_EQ("#", view_json["symbols"][1].get<std::string>());
+
     // when `id` is not given
     nlohmann::json syn_json_without_id = {
         {"root", "Ocean"},