diff --git a/build/config/config.m4 b/build/config/config.m4
index da9383d12b..2d225109f6 100644
--- a/build/config/config.m4
+++ b/build/config/config.m4
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ if test "$PHP_PHALCON" = "yes"; then
     PHP_STRING=$($PHP_CONFIG --version)
     AC_MSG_CHECKING(PHP version)
 
-    if test $PHP_VERSION -lt 70401; then
+    if test $PHP_VERSION -lt 80000; then
       AC_MSG_ERROR(PHP version $PHP_STRING is not supported)
     fi
 
@@ -39,23 +39,6 @@ if test "$PHP_PHALCON" = "yes"; then
 		[[#include "php_config.h"]]
 	)
 
-	AC_CHECK_DECL(
-		[HAVE_JSON],
-		[
-			AC_CHECK_HEADERS(
-				[ext/json/php_json.h],
-				[
-					PHP_ADD_EXTENSION_DEP([phalcon], [json])
-					AC_DEFINE([ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON], [1], [Whether PHP json extension is present at compile time])
-				],
-				,
-				[[#include "main/php.h"]]
-			)
-		],
-		,
-		[[#include "php_config.h"]]
-	)
-
 	CPPFLAGS=$old_CPPFLAGS
 
 	PHP_INSTALL_HEADERS([ext/phalcon], [php_phalcon.h])
diff --git a/build/phalcon/config.m4 b/build/phalcon/config.m4
index da9383d12b..2d225109f6 100644
--- a/build/phalcon/config.m4
+++ b/build/phalcon/config.m4
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ if test "$PHP_PHALCON" = "yes"; then
     PHP_STRING=$($PHP_CONFIG --version)
     AC_MSG_CHECKING(PHP version)
 
-    if test $PHP_VERSION -lt 70401; then
+    if test $PHP_VERSION -lt 80000; then
       AC_MSG_ERROR(PHP version $PHP_STRING is not supported)
     fi
 
@@ -39,23 +39,6 @@ if test "$PHP_PHALCON" = "yes"; then
 		[[#include "php_config.h"]]
 	)
 
-	AC_CHECK_DECL(
-		[HAVE_JSON],
-		[
-			AC_CHECK_HEADERS(
-				[ext/json/php_json.h],
-				[
-					PHP_ADD_EXTENSION_DEP([phalcon], [json])
-					AC_DEFINE([ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON], [1], [Whether PHP json extension is present at compile time])
-				],
-				,
-				[[#include "main/php.h"]]
-			)
-		],
-		,
-		[[#include "php_config.h"]]
-	)
-
 	CPPFLAGS=$old_CPPFLAGS
 
 	PHP_INSTALL_HEADERS([ext/phalcon], [php_phalcon.h])
diff --git a/build/phalcon/phalcon.zep.c b/build/phalcon/phalcon.zep.c
index 919baaac5f..99f785b0cc 100644
--- a/build/phalcon/phalcon.zep.c
+++ b/build/phalcon/phalcon.zep.c
@@ -6928,10 +6928,6 @@ static void zephir_fast_array_merge(zval *return_value, zval *array1, zval *arra
 #if defined ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_PCRE && ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_PCRE
 #endif
 
-#if defined ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON && ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON
-#endif
-
-
 #define PH_RANDOM_ALNUM 0
 #define PH_RANDOM_ALPHA 1
 #define PH_RANDOM_HEXDEC 2
@@ -7934,8 +7930,6 @@ static void zephir_preg_match(zval *return_value, zval *regex, zval *subject, zv
 
 #endif /* ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_PCRE */
 
-#if defined ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON && ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON
-
 static int zephir_json_encode(zval *return_value, zval *v, int opts)
 {
 	smart_str buf = { 0 };
@@ -7968,38 +7962,6 @@ static int zephir_json_decode(zval *return_value, zval *v, zend_bool assoc)
 	return SUCCESS;
 }
 
-#else
-
-static int zephir_json_encode(zval *return_value, zval *v, int opts)
-{
-	zval zopts;
-	zval *params[2];
-
-	ZVAL_NULL(&zopts);
-	ZVAL_LONG(&zopts, opts);
-
-	params[0] = v;
-	params[1] = &zopts;
-
-	return zephir_return_call_function(return_value, SL("json_encode"), NULL, 0, 2, params);
-}
-
-static int zephir_json_decode(zval *return_value, zval *v, zend_bool assoc)
-{
-	zval zassoc;
-	zval *params[2];
-
-	ZVAL_NULL(&zassoc);
-	ZVAL_BOOL(&zassoc, assoc);
-
-	params[0] = v;
-	params[1] = &zassoc;
-
-	return zephir_return_call_function(return_value, SL("json_decode"), NULL, 0, 2, params);
-}
-
-#endif /* ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON */
-
 static void zephir_md5(zval *return_value, zval *str)
 {
 	PHP_MD5_CTX ctx;
diff --git a/composer.json b/composer.json
index 48aad511f2..4a1bbc79e4 100644
--- a/composer.json
+++ b/composer.json
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@
     "ext-igbinary": "*",
     "ext-imagick": "*",
     "ext-intl": "*",
-    "ext-json": "*",
     "ext-libxml": "*",
     "ext-mbstring": "*",
     "ext-msgpack": "*",
diff --git a/composer.lock b/composer.lock
index 8860406828..f02b7968c2 100644
--- a/composer.lock
+++ b/composer.lock
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
         "Read more about it at https://getcomposer.org/doc/01-basic-usage.md#installing-dependencies",
         "This file is @generated automatically"
     ],
-    "content-hash": "b72d11dba93423cc6d6c77c01c90896e",
+    "content-hash": "99f80ef25314b9904f4b2ca3a94b392d",
     "packages": [],
     "packages-dev": [
         {
@@ -6924,7 +6924,6 @@
         "ext-igbinary": "*",
         "ext-imagick": "*",
         "ext-intl": "*",
-        "ext-json": "*",
         "ext-libxml": "*",
         "ext-mbstring": "*",
         "ext-msgpack": "*",
diff --git a/ext/config.m4 b/ext/config.m4
index c6c7ce5736..6d7f13072e 100644
--- a/ext/config.m4
+++ b/ext/config.m4
@@ -660,23 +660,6 @@ if test "$PHP_PHALCON" = "yes"; then
 		[[#include "php_config.h"]]
 	)
 
-	AC_CHECK_DECL(
-		[HAVE_JSON],
-		[
-			AC_CHECK_HEADERS(
-				[ext/json/php_json.h],
-				[
-					PHP_ADD_EXTENSION_DEP([phalcon], [json])
-					AC_DEFINE([ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON], [1], [Whether PHP json extension is present at compile time])
-				],
-				,
-				[[#include "main/php.h"]]
-			)
-		],
-		,
-		[[#include "php_config.h"]]
-	)
-
 	CPPFLAGS=$old_CPPFLAGS
 
 	PHP_INSTALL_HEADERS([ext/phalcon], [php_PHALCON.h])
diff --git a/ext/config.w32 b/ext/config.w32
index 5631be52d9..a627bb04e4 100644
--- a/ext/config.w32
+++ b/ext/config.w32
@@ -5,10 +5,6 @@ if (PHP_PHALCON != "no") {
   ADD_SOURCES(configure_module_dirname + "/kernel", "main.c memory.c exception.c debug.c backtrace.c object.c array.c string.c fcall.c require.c file.c operators.c math.c concat.c variables.c filter.c iterator.c exit.c time.c", "phalcon");
   /* PCRE is always included on WIN32 */
   AC_DEFINE("ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_PCRE", 1, "Whether PHP pcre extension is present at compile time");
-  if (PHP_JSON != "no") {
-    ADD_EXTENSION_DEP("phalcon", "json");
-    AC_DEFINE("ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON", 1, "Whether PHP json extension is present at compile time");
-  }
   ADD_SOURCES(configure_module_dirname + "/phalcon/annotations", "scanner.c parser.c", "phalcon");
 	ADD_SOURCES(configure_module_dirname + "/phalcon/mvc/model", "orm.c", "phalcon");
 	ADD_SOURCES(configure_module_dirname + "/phalcon/mvc/model/query", "scanner.c parser.c", "phalcon");
diff --git a/ext/kernel/string.c b/ext/kernel/string.c
index 96a49a4254..d6e0bbeafc 100644
--- a/ext/kernel/string.c
+++ b/ext/kernel/string.c
@@ -35,9 +35,7 @@
 #include <ext/pcre/php_pcre.h>
 #endif
 
-#if defined ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON && ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON
 #include <ext/json/php_json.h>
-#endif
 
 #include "kernel/main.h"
 #include "kernel/memory.h"
@@ -1128,8 +1126,6 @@ void zephir_preg_match(zval *return_value, zval *regex, zval *subject, zval *mat
 
 #endif /* ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_PCRE */
 
-#if defined ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON && ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON
-
 int zephir_json_encode(zval *return_value, zval *v, int opts)
 {
 	smart_str buf = { 0 };
@@ -1162,38 +1158,6 @@ int zephir_json_decode(zval *return_value, zval *v, zend_bool assoc)
 	return SUCCESS;
 }
 
-#else
-
-int zephir_json_encode(zval *return_value, zval *v, int opts)
-{
-	zval zopts;
-	zval *params[2];
-
-	ZVAL_NULL(&zopts);
-	ZVAL_LONG(&zopts, opts);
-
-	params[0] = v;
-	params[1] = &zopts;
-
-	return zephir_return_call_function(return_value, SL("json_encode"), NULL, 0, 2, params);
-}
-
-int zephir_json_decode(zval *return_value, zval *v, zend_bool assoc)
-{
-	zval zassoc;
-	zval *params[2];
-
-	ZVAL_NULL(&zassoc);
-	ZVAL_BOOL(&zassoc, assoc);
-
-	params[0] = v;
-	params[1] = &zassoc;
-
-	return zephir_return_call_function(return_value, SL("json_decode"), NULL, 0, 2, params);
-}
-
-#endif /* ZEPHIR_USE_PHP_JSON */
-
 void zephir_md5(zval *return_value, zval *str)
 {
 	PHP_MD5_CTX ctx;