diff --git a/litgpt/utils.py b/litgpt/utils.py
index 18c4556691..65da258092 100644
--- a/litgpt/utils.py
+++ b/litgpt/utils.py
@@ -680,10 +680,18 @@ def check_nvlink_connectivity(fabric=None):
             custom_print(f"An error occurred: {e}")
 
 
-def fix_and_load_json(json_string):
-    # Fix missing commas between JSON properties by finding consecutive closing and opening braces/quotes
-    fixed_json_string = re.sub(r'(["\d}])\s*(?=["{])', r'\1,\n', json_string)
+def fix_and_load_json(s):
+    # Remove trailing commas before } or ]
+    s = re.sub(r',(\s*[}\]])', r'\1', s)
 
-    # Remove trailing comma before closing curly brace
-    fixed_json_string = re.sub(r',\s*}', '}', fixed_json_string)
-    return json.loads(fixed_json_string)
+    # Insert missing commas between properties
+    # Match positions where a value is followed by a newline and then a quote without a comma
+    pattern = r'(?<=[}\]0-9truefalsenull"])\s*(\n\s*)"'
+    replacement = r',\1"'
+    s = re.sub(pattern, replacement, s)
+
+    # Now try to parse the JSON
+    try:
+        return json.loads(s)
+    except json.JSONDecodeError as e:
+        raise ValueError(f"Failed to parse JSON after fixing: {e}")