Using JSON in data attributes with JS

I don't know if it's considered bad practice, or if it's the way everyone does it, but I find myself inserting JSON data into HTML element attributes all the time. So, for instance:

PHP Code:

foreach( $query->result_array() as $row )
    $arr[] = (object) array_map( 'html_escape', $row );

$json = json_encode( $arr );

$json_string = str_replace([
    '"',
    ''',
    '& #039;' // space here for codeigniter forum
], [
    '\u0022',
    '\u0027',
    '\u0027'
], $json ); 


Now I know that json_encode has options like JSON_HEX_APOS and JSON_HEX_QUOT, but I also want to use html_escape() which is why I'm using str_replace the way I am. This allows me to do this:

PHP Code:

echo '<div data-json=\'' . $json_string . '\'>'; 


Then later in my json I can use JSON.parse() on the contents of that data-json attribute.

What are your thoughts here? Is there a better way?

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