diff --git a/lib/liquid/variable_lookup.rb b/lib/liquid/variable_lookup.rb
index 4fba2a65..4ccd277f 100644
--- a/lib/liquid/variable_lookup.rb
+++ b/lib/liquid/variable_lookup.rb
@@ -7,10 +7,6 @@ module Liquid
     attr_reader :name, :lookups
 
     def self.parse(markup, string_scanner = StringScanner.new(""), cache = nil)
-      new(markup, string_scanner, cache)
-    end
-
-    def initialize(markup, string_scanner = StringScanner.new(""), cache = nil)
       lookups = markup.scan(VariableParser)
 
       name = lookups.shift
@@ -21,12 +17,10 @@ module Liquid
           cache,
         )
       end
-      @name = name
 
-      @lookups       = lookups
-      @command_flags = 0
+      command_flags = 0
 
-      @lookups.each_index do |i|
+      lookups.each_index do |i|
         lookup = lookups[i]
         if lookup&.start_with?('[') && lookup&.end_with?(']')
           lookups[i] = Expression.parse(
@@ -35,9 +29,17 @@ module Liquid
             cache,
           )
         elsif COMMAND_METHODS.include?(lookup)
-          @command_flags |= 1 << i
+          command_flags |= 1 << i
         end
       end
+
+      new(name, lookups, command_flags)
+    end
+
+    def initialize(name, lookups, command_flags)
+      @name = name
+      @lookups = lookups
+      @command_flags = command_flags
     end
 
     def lookup_command?(lookup_index)
diff --git a/test/unit/condition_unit_test.rb b/test/unit/condition_unit_test.rb
index e9add4c8..08cb4686 100644
--- a/test/unit/condition_unit_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/condition_unit_test.rb
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ class ConditionUnitTest < Minitest::Test
   def test_contains_works_on_arrays
     @context          = Liquid::Context.new
     @context['array'] = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
-    array_expr        = VariableLookup.new("array")
+    array_expr        = VariableLookup.parse("array")
 
     assert_evaluates_false(array_expr, 'contains', 0)
     assert_evaluates_true(array_expr, 'contains', 1)
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@ class ConditionUnitTest < Minitest::Test
 
   def test_contains_returns_false_for_nil_operands
     @context = Liquid::Context.new
-    assert_evaluates_false(VariableLookup.new('not_assigned'), 'contains', '0')
-    assert_evaluates_false(0, 'contains', VariableLookup.new('not_assigned'))
+    assert_evaluates_false(VariableLookup.parse('not_assigned'), 'contains', '0')
+    assert_evaluates_false(0, 'contains', VariableLookup.parse('not_assigned'))
   end
 
   def test_contains_return_false_on_wrong_data_type
@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ class ConditionUnitTest < Minitest::Test
     @context        = Liquid::Context.new
     @context['one'] = @context['another'] = "gnomeslab-and-or-liquid"
 
-    assert_evaluates_true(VariableLookup.new("one"), '==', VariableLookup.new("another"))
+    assert_evaluates_true(VariableLookup.parse("one"), '==', VariableLookup.parse("another"))
   end
 
   def test_default_context_is_deprecated
diff --git a/test/unit/variable_unit_test.rb b/test/unit/variable_unit_test.rb
index 6379c6ec..b6f1c9aa 100644
--- a/test/unit/variable_unit_test.rb
+++ b/test/unit/variable_unit_test.rb
@@ -7,20 +7,20 @@ class VariableUnitTest < Minitest::Test
 
   def test_variable
     var = create_variable('hello')
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('hello'), var.name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('hello'), var.name)
   end
 
   def test_filters
     var = create_variable('hello | textileze')
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('hello'), var.name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('hello'), var.name)
     assert_equal([['textileze', []]], var.filters)
 
     var = create_variable('hello | textileze | paragraph')
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('hello'), var.name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('hello'), var.name)
     assert_equal([['textileze', []], ['paragraph', []]], var.filters)
 
     var = create_variable(%( hello | strftime: '%Y'))
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('hello'), var.name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('hello'), var.name)
     assert_equal([['strftime', ['%Y']]], var.filters)
 
     var = create_variable(%( 'typo' | link_to: 'Typo', true ))
@@ -44,11 +44,11 @@ class VariableUnitTest < Minitest::Test
     assert_equal([['repeat', [3, 3, 3]]], var.filters)
 
     var = create_variable(%( hello | strftime: '%Y, okay?'))
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('hello'), var.name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('hello'), var.name)
     assert_equal([['strftime', ['%Y, okay?']]], var.filters)
 
     var = create_variable(%( hello | things: "%Y, okay?", 'the other one'))
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('hello'), var.name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('hello'), var.name)
     assert_equal([['things', ['%Y, okay?', 'the other one']]], var.filters)
   end
 
@@ -60,15 +60,15 @@ class VariableUnitTest < Minitest::Test
 
   def test_filters_without_whitespace
     var = create_variable('hello | textileze | paragraph')
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('hello'), var.name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('hello'), var.name)
     assert_equal([['textileze', []], ['paragraph', []]], var.filters)
 
     var = create_variable('hello|textileze|paragraph')
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('hello'), var.name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('hello'), var.name)
     assert_equal([['textileze', []], ['paragraph', []]], var.filters)
 
     var = create_variable("hello|replace:'foo','bar'|textileze")
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('hello'), var.name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('hello'), var.name)
     assert_equal([['replace', ['foo', 'bar']], ['textileze', []]], var.filters)
   end
 
@@ -99,8 +99,8 @@ class VariableUnitTest < Minitest::Test
   end
 
   def test_dashes
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('foo-bar'), create_variable('foo-bar').name)
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('foo-bar-2'), create_variable('foo-bar-2').name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('foo-bar'), create_variable('foo-bar').name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('foo-bar-2'), create_variable('foo-bar-2').name)
 
     assert_raises(Liquid::SyntaxError) { create_variable('foo - bar') }
     assert_raises(Liquid::SyntaxError) { create_variable('-foo') }
@@ -114,12 +114,12 @@ class VariableUnitTest < Minitest::Test
 
   def test_string_dot
     var = create_variable(%( test.test ))
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('test.test'), var.name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('test.test'), var.name)
   end
 
   def test_filter_with_keyword_arguments
     var = create_variable(%( hello | things: greeting: "world", farewell: 'goodbye'))
-    assert_equal(VariableLookup.new('hello'), var.name)
+    assert_equal(VariableLookup.parse('hello'), var.name)
     assert_equal([['things', [], { 'greeting' => 'world', 'farewell' => 'goodbye' }]], var.filters)
   end
 
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ class VariableUnitTest < Minitest::Test
   end
 
   def test_variable_lookup_interface
-    lookup = VariableLookup.new('a.b.c')
+    lookup = VariableLookup.parse('a.b.c')
     assert_equal('a', lookup.name)
     assert_equal(['b', 'c'], lookup.lookups)
   end