diff --git a/wled00/util.cpp b/wled00/util.cpp
index 8ac46c77df..5063c1180b 100644
--- a/wled00/util.cpp
+++ b/wled00/util.cpp
@@ -262,6 +262,13 @@ size_t utf8_strlen(const char *s)
   return len;
 }
 
+// Runtime state private to this file - previously WLED_GLOBAL, a leftover from
+// when all state lived in one big extern block regardless of who used it.
+#if defined(ARDUINO_ARCH_ESP32)
+static SemaphoreHandle_t jsonBufferLockMutex = xSemaphoreCreateRecursiveMutex();
+#endif
+static volatile uint8_t jsonBufferLock = 0;
+
 //threading/network callback details: https://github.com/wled-dev/WLED/pull/2336#discussion_r762276994
 bool requestJSONBufferLock(uint8_t moduleID)
 {
diff --git a/wled00/wled.h b/wled00/wled.h
index 9bafb49196..bee7dbf9c2 100644
--- a/wled00/wled.h
+++ b/wled00/wled.h
@@ -854,9 +854,7 @@ WLED_GLOBAL int8_t spi_sclk  _INIT(SPISCLKPIN);
 #endif
 
 // global ArduinoJson buffer
-#if defined(ARDUINO_ARCH_ESP32)
-WLED_GLOBAL SemaphoreHandle_t jsonBufferLockMutex _INIT(xSemaphoreCreateRecursiveMutex());
-#endif
+// jsonBufferLockMutex/jsonBufferLock are private to util.cpp - see there.
 #ifdef BOARD_HAS_PSRAM
 // if board has PSRAM, use it for JSON document (allocated in setup())
 WLED_GLOBAL JsonDocument *pDoc _INIT(nullptr);
@@ -864,7 +862,6 @@ WLED_GLOBAL JsonDocument *pDoc _INIT(nullptr);
 WLED_GLOBAL StaticJsonDocument<JSON_BUFFER_SIZE> gDoc;
 WLED_GLOBAL JsonDocument *pDoc _INIT(&gDoc);
 #endif
-WLED_GLOBAL volatile uint8_t jsonBufferLock _INIT(0);
 
 // enable additional debug output
 #if defined(WLED_DEBUG_HOST)