diff --git a/apm-agent-core/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/serialize/DslJsonDataWriter.java b/apm-agent-core/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/serialize/DslJsonDataWriter.java
index b17cf31b98..54f4d7ff7b 100644
--- a/apm-agent-core/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/serialize/DslJsonDataWriter.java
+++ b/apm-agent-core/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/report/serialize/DslJsonDataWriter.java
@@ -86,13 +86,8 @@ public void serialize(double value) {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public void writeAscii(String value) {
-        jw.writeAscii(value);
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public void writeString(CharSequence replaceBuilder) {
-        jw.writeString(replaceBuilder);
+    public void writeString(CharSequence value) {
+        jw.writeString(value);
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/apm-agent-plugins/apm-micrometer-plugin/pom.xml b/apm-agent-plugins/apm-micrometer-plugin/pom.xml
index 1939b8ca2f..61b8f25b10 100644
--- a/apm-agent-plugins/apm-micrometer-plugin/pom.xml
+++ b/apm-agent-plugins/apm-micrometer-plugin/pom.xml
@@ -20,12 +20,6 @@
     </properties>
 
     <dependencies>
-        <!-- This plugin requires further refactoring to avoid agent dependencies. -->
-        <dependency>
-            <groupId>${project.groupId}</groupId>
-            <artifactId>apm-agent-core</artifactId>
-            <version>${project.version}</version>
-        </dependency>
         <dependency>
             <groupId>io.micrometer</groupId>
             <artifactId>micrometer-core</artifactId>
diff --git a/apm-agent-plugins/apm-micrometer-plugin/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/micrometer/MicrometerMeterRegistrySerializer.java b/apm-agent-plugins/apm-micrometer-plugin/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/micrometer/MicrometerMeterRegistrySerializer.java
index f794f78ccb..e06145f7b7 100644
--- a/apm-agent-plugins/apm-micrometer-plugin/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/micrometer/MicrometerMeterRegistrySerializer.java
+++ b/apm-agent-plugins/apm-micrometer-plugin/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/micrometer/MicrometerMeterRegistrySerializer.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
  */
 package co.elastic.apm.agent.micrometer;
 
+import co.elastic.apm.agent.report.serialize.DslJsonDataWriter;
 import co.elastic.apm.agent.sdk.internal.util.PrivilegedActionUtils;
 import co.elastic.apm.agent.sdk.logging.Logger;
 import co.elastic.apm.agent.sdk.logging.LoggerFactory;
@@ -26,6 +27,8 @@
 import co.elastic.apm.agent.tracer.configuration.MetricsConfiguration;
 import co.elastic.apm.agent.tracer.reporting.DataWriter;
 import co.elastic.apm.agent.tracer.reporting.ReportingTracer;
+import com.dslplatform.json.DslJson;
+import com.dslplatform.json.JsonWriter;
 import io.micrometer.core.instrument.Counter;
 import io.micrometer.core.instrument.DistributionSummary;
 import io.micrometer.core.instrument.FunctionCounter;
@@ -256,9 +259,7 @@ private static void serializeHistogram(Meter.Id id, HistogramSnapshot histogramS
         }
         writer.write(ARRAY_END);
         writer.write(COMMA);
-        writer.write(QUOTE);
-        writer.writeAscii("counts");
-        writer.write(QUOTE);
+        writer.writeString("counts");
         writer.write(SEMI);
         writer.write(ARRAY_START);
         // Micrometer bucket counts are cumulative: E.g. the count at bucket with upper
@@ -277,7 +278,8 @@ private static void serializeHistogram(Meter.Id id, HistogramSnapshot histogramS
         writer.write(ARRAY_END);
 
         writer.write(COMMA);
-        writer.writeAscii("\"type\":\"histogram\"");
+        writer.writeFieldName("type");
+        writer.writeString("histogram");
 
         writer.write(OBJECT_END);
     }
@@ -335,13 +337,20 @@ private static void serializeObjectStart(String key, String objectName, String s
 
         writer.write(SEMI);
         writer.write(OBJECT_START);
-        writer.write(QUOTE);
-        writer.writeAscii(objectName);
-        writer.write(QUOTE);
-        writer.write(SEMI);
+        writer.writeFieldName(objectName);
     }
 
     private static boolean isValidValue(double value) {
         return !Double.isNaN(value) && !Double.isInfinite(value);
     }
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) {
+        DslJson<Object> dslJson = new DslJson<>(new DslJson.Settings<>());
+        JsonWriter jw = dslJson.newWriter(512);
+        jw.writeAscii("\"foo\"");
+        //jw.writeString("foo");
+        String string = jw.toString();
+        System.out.println(string);
+
+    }
 }
diff --git a/apm-agent-plugins/apm-opentelemetry/apm-opentelemetry-metricsdk-plugin/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/otelmetricsdk/MetricSetSerializer.java b/apm-agent-plugins/apm-opentelemetry/apm-opentelemetry-metricsdk-plugin/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/otelmetricsdk/MetricSetSerializer.java
index 9d86b59c50..5dd92dd73d 100644
--- a/apm-agent-plugins/apm-opentelemetry/apm-opentelemetry-metricsdk-plugin/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/otelmetricsdk/MetricSetSerializer.java
+++ b/apm-agent-plugins/apm-opentelemetry/apm-opentelemetry-metricsdk-plugin/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/otelmetricsdk/MetricSetSerializer.java
@@ -107,7 +107,8 @@ public void addExplicitBucketHistogram(CharSequence metricName, List<Double> bou
             serializeFieldKeyAscii("counts");
             convertAndSerializeHistogramBucketCounts(counts);
             writer.write(COMMA);
-            writer.writeAscii("\"type\":\"histogram\"");
+            writer.writeFieldName("type");
+            writer.writeString("histogram");
         }
         writer.write(OBJECT_END);
         anySamplesWritten = true;
@@ -172,10 +173,7 @@ private void serializeFieldKey(CharSequence fieldName) {
     }
 
     private void serializeFieldKeyAscii(String fieldName) {
-        writer.write(QUOTE);
-        writer.writeAscii(fieldName);
-        writer.write(QUOTE);
-        writer.write(SEMI);
+        writer.writeFieldName(fieldName);
     }
 
     private void serializeAttributes(CharSequence instrumentationScopeName, Attributes attributes) {
@@ -187,7 +185,7 @@ private void serializeAttributes(CharSequence instrumentationScopeName, Attribut
         writer.write(OBJECT_START);
         boolean anyWritten = false;
         if (instrumentationScopeName.length() > 0) {
-            writer.writeAscii("\"otel_instrumentation_scope_name\":");
+            writer.writeFieldName("otel_instrumentation_scope_name");
             writer.writeString(instrumentationScopeName);
             anyWritten = true;
         }
diff --git a/apm-agent-tracer/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/tracer/reporting/DataWriter.java b/apm-agent-tracer/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/tracer/reporting/DataWriter.java
index 7035fe4f34..0a0b2e9c0b 100644
--- a/apm-agent-tracer/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/tracer/reporting/DataWriter.java
+++ b/apm-agent-tracer/src/main/java/co/elastic/apm/agent/tracer/reporting/DataWriter.java
@@ -30,9 +30,7 @@ public interface DataWriter {
 
     void serialize(double value);
 
-    void writeAscii(String value);
-
-    void writeString(CharSequence replaceBuilder);
+    void writeString(CharSequence value);
 
     void writeStringValue(CharSequence value, StringBuilder replaceBuilder);