diff --git a/src/__tests__/fixtures/spectral-481.yaml b/src/__tests__/fixtures/spectral-481.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..032699d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/__tests__/fixtures/spectral-481.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+%YAML 1.2
+---
+openapi: 3.0.0
+info:
+  title: Random title
+  description: Random description
+  version: 0.0.1
+  contact:
+    email: random@random.com
+paths: {}
+servers:
+  - url: https://www.random.com
+components:
+  schemas:
+    RandomRequest:
+      description: A random request
+      type: object
+      properties:
+        implicit_string_date:
+          description: Some YAML 1.2 implicit string.
+          type: string
+          example: 2012-10-12
+        another_implicit_string_date:
+          description: Some string.
+          type: string
+          example: x20121012
+        explicit_string_date:
+          description: Explicit string.
+          type: string
+          example: "2012-10-12"
diff --git a/src/__tests__/parseWithPointers.spec.ts b/src/__tests__/parseWithPointers.spec.ts
index f47a486..3fe80cd 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/parseWithPointers.spec.ts
+++ b/src/__tests__/parseWithPointers.spec.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { HugeYAML } from './fixtures/huge-yaml';
 
 const diverse = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, './fixtures/diverse.yaml'), 'utf-8');
 const duplicateMergeKeys = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, './fixtures/duplicate-merge-keys.yaml'), 'utf-8');
+const spectral481 = fs.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, './fixtures/spectral-481.yaml'), 'utf-8');
 
 describe('yaml parser', () => {
   test.each(['test', 1])('parse scalar $s', val => {
@@ -29,6 +30,22 @@ describe('yaml parser', () => {
     expect(result.data).toEqual(HugeJSON);
   });
 
+  it('parses string according to YAML 1.2 spec', () => {
+    const { data } = parseWithPointers(spectral481);
+    expect(data).toHaveProperty(
+      'components.schemas.RandomRequest.properties.implicit_string_date.example',
+      '2012-10-12'
+    );
+    expect(data).toHaveProperty(
+      'components.schemas.RandomRequest.properties.another_implicit_string_date.example',
+      'x20121012'
+    );
+    expect(data).toHaveProperty(
+      'components.schemas.RandomRequest.properties.explicit_string_date.example',
+      '2012-10-12'
+    );
+  });
+
   describe('report errors', () => {
     test('unknown tags', () => {
       const result = parseWithPointers(`function: !!js/function >
diff --git a/src/parseWithPointers.ts b/src/parseWithPointers.ts
index 2a1356b..657fb7d 100644
--- a/src/parseWithPointers.ts
+++ b/src/parseWithPointers.ts
@@ -1,11 +1,17 @@
 import { DiagnosticSeverity, IDiagnostic } from '@stoplight/types';
 import {
+  determineScalarType,
   Kind,
   load as loadAST,
+  parseYamlBoolean,
+  parseYamlFloat,
+  parseYamlInteger,
+  ScalarType,
   YAMLAnchorReference,
   YAMLException,
   YamlMap,
   YAMLNode,
+  YAMLScalar,
   YAMLSequence,
 } from 'yaml-ast-parser';
 import { buildJsonPath } from './buildJsonPath';
@@ -92,7 +98,7 @@ export const walkAST = (
       case Kind.SEQ:
         return (node as YAMLSequence).items.map(item => walkAST(item, options, duplicatedMappingKeys));
       case Kind.SCALAR:
-        return 'valueObject' in node ? node.valueObject : node.value;
+        return getScalarValue(node as YAMLScalar);
       case Kind.ANCHOR_REF:
         if (node.value !== void 0 && isCircularAnchorRef(node as YAMLAnchorReference)) {
           node.value = dereferenceAnchor(node.value, (node as YAMLAnchorReference).referencesAnchor);
@@ -150,6 +156,21 @@ const dereferenceAnchor = (node: YAMLNode, anchorId: string): YAMLNode | YAMLNod
   }
 };
 
+function getScalarValue(node: YAMLScalar): number | null | boolean | string | void {
+  switch (determineScalarType(node)) {
+    case ScalarType.null:
+      return null;
+    case ScalarType.string:
+      return String(node.value);
+    case ScalarType.bool:
+      return parseYamlBoolean(node.value);
+    case ScalarType.int:
+      return parseYamlInteger(node.value);
+    case ScalarType.float:
+      return parseYamlFloat(node.value);
+  }
+}
+
 // builds up the line map, for use by linesForPosition
 const computeLineMap = (input: string) => {
   const lineMap: number[] = [];