diff --git a/src/filters/misc.ts b/src/filters/misc.ts
index 961a9146b..f25a1641a 100644
--- a/src/filters/misc.ts
+++ b/src/filters/misc.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import { isFalsy } from '../render/boolean'
 import { identify, isArray, isString, toValue } from '../util/underscore'
-import { Limiter } from '../util/limiter'
 import { FilterImpl } from '../template'
 
 function defaultFilter<T1 extends boolean, T2> (this: FilterImpl, value: T1, defaultValue: T2, ...args: Array<[string, any]>): T1 | T2 {
@@ -27,28 +26,32 @@ function indentWidth (space: number | string): number {
   return n > 0 ? Math.min(n, 10) : 0
 }
 
-function jsonReplacer (memoryLimit: Limiter, width: number, detectCircular: boolean) {
+function json (this: FilterImpl, value: any, space: number | string = 0) {
+  const memoryLimit = this.context.memoryLimit
+  const width = indentWidth(space)
   const ancestors: unknown[] = []
-  return function (this: unknown, key: string, value: any) {
-    // `this` is the parent holding `value`; popping ancestors back to it yields the
-    // nesting depth, so we can charge a lower bound of the bytes `value` adds to the
-    // output (its own content, its key, and the indentation of its line).
+  return JSON.stringify(value, function (this: unknown, key: string, value: any) {
     while (ancestors.length > 0 && ancestors[ancestors.length - 1] !== this) ancestors.pop()
-    const keySize = isArray(this) ? 0 : key.length
-    memoryLimit.use(jsonNodeSize(value) + keySize + ancestors.length * width)
+    memoryLimit.use(jsonNodeSize(value) + (isArray(this) ? 0 : key.length) + ancestors.length * width)
     if (value === null || typeof value !== 'object') return value
-    if (detectCircular && ancestors.includes(value)) return '[Circular]'
     ancestors.push(value)
     return value
-  }
-}
-
-function json (this: FilterImpl, value: any, space: number | string = 0) {
-  return JSON.stringify(value, jsonReplacer(this.context.memoryLimit, indentWidth(space), false), space)
+  }, space)
 }
 
 function inspect (this: FilterImpl, value: any, space: number | string = 0) {
-  return JSON.stringify(value, jsonReplacer(this.context.memoryLimit, indentWidth(space), true), space)
+  const memoryLimit = this.context.memoryLimit
+  const width = indentWidth(space)
+  const ancestors: unknown[] = []
+  return JSON.stringify(value, function (this: unknown, key: string, value: any) {
+    // `this` is the parent holding `value`; ancestors.length is its nesting depth.
+    while (ancestors.length > 0 && ancestors[ancestors.length - 1] !== this) ancestors.pop()
+    memoryLimit.use(jsonNodeSize(value) + (isArray(this) ? 0 : key.length) + ancestors.length * width)
+    if (value === null || typeof value !== 'object') return value
+    if (ancestors.includes(value)) return '[Circular]'
+    ancestors.push(value)
+    return value
+  }, space)
 }
 
 function to_integer (value: any) {