diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 4189e6f5f3..e119476ce7 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/Masterminds/sprig/v3 v3.3.0
 	github.com/Microsoft/go-winio v0.6.2
 	github.com/andres-erbsen/clock v0.0.0-20160526145045-9e14626cd129
+	github.com/aperturerobotics/fastjson v0.1.1
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2 v1.37.1
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/config v1.30.0
 	github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/credentials v1.18.0
@@ -76,7 +77,6 @@ require (
 	github.com/spiffe/spire-plugin-sdk v1.4.4-0.20250606112051-68609d83ce7c
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.10.0
 	github.com/uber-go/tally/v4 v4.1.17
-	github.com/valyala/fastjson v1.6.4
 	golang.org/x/crypto v0.41.0
 	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20250408133849-7e4ce0ab07d0
 	golang.org/x/net v0.42.0
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 2564b61294..00a4520b17 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -768,6 +768,8 @@ github.com/antihax/optional v1.0.0/go.mod h1:uupD/76wgC+ih3iEmQUL+0Ugr19nfwCT1kd
 github.com/apache/arrow/go/v10 v10.0.1/go.mod h1:YvhnlEePVnBS4+0z3fhPfUy7W1Ikj0Ih0vcRo/gZ1M0=
 github.com/apache/arrow/go/v11 v11.0.0/go.mod h1:Eg5OsL5H+e299f7u5ssuXsuHQVEGC4xei5aX110hRiI=
 github.com/apache/thrift v0.16.0/go.mod h1:PHK3hniurgQaNMZYaCLEqXKsYK8upmhPbmdP2FXSqgU=
+github.com/aperturerobotics/fastjson v0.1.1 h1:3ErKDjTNW8jFD6lLLnx1kyU+55TSq0ocFWaYTJBo4Ns=
+github.com/aperturerobotics/fastjson v0.1.1/go.mod h1:ArP9Q7MVDi8jMPR3ljopH5drxs/qen12Hv2L7qRcPb4=
 github.com/arbovm/levenshtein v0.0.0-20160628152529-48b4e1c0c4d0 h1:jfIu9sQUG6Ig+0+Ap1h4unLjW6YQJpKZVmUzxsD4E/Q=
 github.com/arbovm/levenshtein v0.0.0-20160628152529-48b4e1c0c4d0/go.mod h1:t2tdKJDJF9BV14lnkjHmOQgcvEKgtqs5a1N3LNdJhGE=
 github.com/armon/go-metrics v0.4.1/go.mod h1:E6amYzXo6aW1tqzoZGT755KkbgrJsSdpwZ+3JqfkOG4=
@@ -1735,8 +1737,6 @@ github.com/twmb/murmur3 v1.1.8 h1:8Yt9taO/WN3l08xErzjeschgZU2QSrwm1kclYq+0aRg=
 github.com/twmb/murmur3 v1.1.8/go.mod h1:Qq/R7NUyOfr65zD+6Q5IHKsJLwP7exErjN6lyyq3OSQ=
 github.com/uber-go/tally/v4 v4.1.17 h1:C+U4BKtVDXTszuzU+WH8JVQvRVnaVKxzZrROFyDrvS8=
 github.com/uber-go/tally/v4 v4.1.17/go.mod h1:ZdpiHRGSa3z4NIAc1VlEH4SiknR885fOIF08xmS0gaU=
-github.com/valyala/fastjson v1.6.4 h1:uAUNq9Z6ymTgGhcm0UynUAB6tlbakBrz6CQFax3BXVQ=
-github.com/valyala/fastjson v1.6.4/go.mod h1:CLCAqky6SMuOcxStkYQvblddUtoRxhYMGLrsQns1aXY=
 github.com/vbatts/tar-split v0.12.1 h1:CqKoORW7BUWBe7UL/iqTVvkTBOF8UvOMKOIZykxnnbo=
 github.com/vbatts/tar-split v0.12.1/go.mod h1:eF6B6i6ftWQcDqEn3/iGFRFRo8cBIMSJVOpnNdfTMFA=
 github.com/vektah/gqlparser/v2 v2.5.30 h1:EqLwGAFLIzt1wpx1IPpY67DwUujF1OfzgEyDsLrN6kE=
diff --git a/pkg/agent/plugin/workloadattestor/k8s/k8s.go b/pkg/agent/plugin/workloadattestor/k8s/k8s.go
index 2b3ddac8c3..60433dd72b 100644
--- a/pkg/agent/plugin/workloadattestor/k8s/k8s.go
+++ b/pkg/agent/plugin/workloadattestor/k8s/k8s.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/andres-erbsen/clock"
+	"github.com/aperturerobotics/fastjson"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/go-hclog"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/hcl"
 	workloadattestorv1 "github.com/spiffe/spire-plugin-sdk/proto/spire/plugin/agent/workloadattestor/v1"
@@ -27,7 +28,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/spiffe/spire/pkg/common/pemutil"
 	"github.com/spiffe/spire/pkg/common/pluginconf"
 	"github.com/spiffe/spire/pkg/common/telemetry"
-	"github.com/valyala/fastjson"
 	"golang.org/x/sync/singleflight"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/codes"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/status"