diff --git a/sjsonnet/src/sjsonnet/ByteRenderer.scala b/sjsonnet/src/sjsonnet/ByteRenderer.scala
index f10b180c..ad65bdbd 100644
--- a/sjsonnet/src/sjsonnet/ByteRenderer.scala
+++ b/sjsonnet/src/sjsonnet/ByteRenderer.scala
@@ -222,13 +222,13 @@ class ByteRenderer(out: OutputStream = new java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream(), inde
           materializeDirectArr(xs, matDepth + 1, ctx)
         else
           // Fall back to generic visitor path for extremely deep nesting
-          Materializer.apply0(v, this)(evaluator)
+          Materializer.materializeStackless(v, this, ctx)(evaluator)
       case 6 => // TAG_OBJ
         val obj = v.asInstanceOf[Val.Obj]
         if (matDepth < ctx.recursiveDepthLimit)
           materializeDirectObj(obj, matDepth + 1, ctx)
         else
-          Materializer.apply0(v, this)(evaluator)
+          Materializer.materializeStackless(v, this, ctx)(evaluator)
       case 7 => // TAG_FUNC
         val s = v.asInstanceOf[Val.Func]
         Error.fail(
diff --git a/sjsonnet/src/sjsonnet/Materializer.scala b/sjsonnet/src/sjsonnet/Materializer.scala
index f168b3d0..9892e3da 100644
--- a/sjsonnet/src/sjsonnet/Materializer.scala
+++ b/sjsonnet/src/sjsonnet/Materializer.scala
@@ -333,7 +333,7 @@ abstract class Materializer {
 
   // Iterative materialization for deep nesting. Used as a fallback when recursive depth exceeds
   // the recursive depth limit. Uses an explicit ArrayDeque stack to avoid StackOverflowError.
-  private def materializeStackless[T](
+  private[sjsonnet] def materializeStackless[T](
       v: Val,
       visitor: Visitor[T, T],
       ctx: Materializer.MaterializeContext)(implicit evaluator: EvalScope): T = {
diff --git a/sjsonnet/test/src/sjsonnet/RendererTests.scala b/sjsonnet/test/src/sjsonnet/RendererTests.scala
index 65577f25..a06c58af 100644
--- a/sjsonnet/test/src/sjsonnet/RendererTests.scala
+++ b/sjsonnet/test/src/sjsonnet/RendererTests.scala
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package sjsonnet
 
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream
 import utest._
 
 object RendererTests extends TestSuite {
@@ -65,6 +66,36 @@ object RendererTests extends TestSuite {
       ujson.transform(ujson.Num(1e15), new Renderer()).toString ==> "1000000000000000"
     }
 
+    test("byteRendererFallbackPreservesCycleContext") {
+      val interpreter = new Interpreter(
+        Map(),
+        Map(),
+        DummyPath(),
+        Importer.empty,
+        parseCache = new DefaultParseCache,
+        settings = Settings.default.copy(materializeRecursiveDepthLimit = 2, maxMaterializeDepth = 2)
+      )
+      val value = interpreter.evaluate(
+        """local o = {
+          |  a: std.repeat("x", 10000),
+          |  z: { b: o },
+          |};
+          |{ root: o }""".stripMargin,
+        DummyPath("(memory)")
+      ) match {
+        case Right(v)  => v
+        case Left(err) => throw new Exception(Error.formatError(err))
+      }
+      val out = new ByteArrayOutputStream
+      val e = interpreter.materialize(value, new ByteRenderer(out)) match {
+        case Left(err) => Error.formatError(err)
+        case Right(_)  => throw new Exception("Expected recursive value materialization error")
+      }
+      assert(e.contains("Stackoverflow while materializing, possibly due to recursive value"))
+      // Losing the outer materialization context re-renders `o.a` before detecting the cycle.
+      assert(out.size() < 15000)
+    }
+
     test("indentZero") {
       // indent=0 should produce newlines but no spaces
       ujson.transform(ujson.Arr(1, 2), new Renderer(indent = 0)).toString ==>