diff --git a/cmd/tools/vtest-cleancode.v b/cmd/tools/vtest-cleancode.v
index 152060337a..82da52603c 100644
--- a/cmd/tools/vtest-cleancode.v
+++ b/cmd/tools/vtest-cleancode.v
@@ -11,7 +11,8 @@ const (
 	vet_folders                     = [
 		'vlib/sqlite',
 		'vlib/v',
-		'vlib/x/ttf/',
+		'vlib/x/json2',
+		'vlib/x/ttf',
 		'cmd/v',
 		'cmd/tools',
 		'examples/2048',
@@ -85,6 +86,7 @@ const (
 		'vlib/strings/',
 		'vlib/time/',
 		'vlib/vweb/',
+		'vlib/x/json2',
 		'vlib/x/websocket/',
 	]
 )
diff --git a/vlib/x/json2/scanner.v b/vlib/x/json2/scanner.v
index f8adb70fd3..a04aaa9926 100644
--- a/vlib/x/json2/scanner.v
+++ b/vlib/x/json2/scanner.v
@@ -151,7 +151,8 @@ fn (mut s Scanner) text_scan() Token {
 						if s.text[s.pos] == `"` {
 							break
 						} else if !s.text[s.pos].is_hex_digit() {
-							return s.error('`${s.text[s.pos].ascii_str()}` is not a hex digit')
+							x := s.text[s.pos].ascii_str()
+							return s.error('`$x` is not a hex digit')
 						}
 						codepoint << s.text[s.pos]
 					}
@@ -241,9 +242,11 @@ fn (mut s Scanner) num_scan() Token {
 // invalid_token returns an error token with the invalid token message.
 fn (s Scanner) invalid_token() Token {
 	if s.text[s.pos] >= 32 && s.text[s.pos] <= 126 {
-		return s.error('invalid token `${s.text[s.pos].ascii_str()}`')
+		x := s.text[s.pos].ascii_str()
+		return s.error('invalid token `$x`')
 	} else {
-		return s.error('invalid token ${s.text[s.pos].str_escaped()}')
+		x := s.text[s.pos].str_escaped()
+		return s.error('invalid token `$x`')
 	}
 }