diff --git a/cache.go b/cache.go
index 122993b..537f53a 100644
--- a/cache.go
+++ b/cache.go
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@ package spec
 
 import (
 	"sync"
+
+	jsoniter "github.com/json-iterator/go"
 )
 
 // ResolutionCache a cache for resolving urls
@@ -71,7 +73,8 @@ var (
 	resCache  *simpleCache
 	onceCache sync.Once
 
-	_ ResolutionCache = &simpleCache{}
+	_    ResolutionCache = &simpleCache{}
+	json jsoniter.API
 )
 
 // initResolutionCache initializes the URI resolution cache. To be wrapped in a sync.Once.Do call.
@@ -79,6 +82,10 @@ func initResolutionCache() {
 	resCache = defaultResolutionCache()
 }
 
+func init() {
+	json = jsoniter.ConfigFastest
+}
+
 func defaultResolutionCache() *simpleCache {
 	return &simpleCache{store: map[string]interface{}{
 		"http://swagger.io/v2/schema.json":       MustLoadSwagger20Schema(),
diff --git a/circular_test.go b/circular_test.go
index c064b61..9e2eb5f 100644
--- a/circular_test.go
+++ b/circular_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"os"
diff --git a/contact_info.go b/contact_info.go
index 2f7bb21..41d210f 100644
--- a/contact_info.go
+++ b/contact_info.go
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
-
 	"github.com/go-openapi/swag"
 )
 
diff --git a/contact_info_test.go b/contact_info_test.go
index fedd81a..97cbd5f 100644
--- a/contact_info_test.go
+++ b/contact_info_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -23,10 +22,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 const contactInfoJSON = `{
-	"name": "wordnik api team",
-	"url": "http://developer.wordnik.com",
-	"email": "some@mailayada.dkdkd",
-	"x-teams": "test team"
+  "name": "wordnik api team",
+  "url": "http://developer.wordnik.com",
+  "email": "some@mailayada.dkdkd",
+  "x-teams": "test team"
 }`
 
 var contactInfo = ContactInfo{ContactInfoProps: ContactInfoProps{
@@ -36,9 +35,9 @@ var contactInfo = ContactInfo{ContactInfoProps: ContactInfoProps{
 }, VendorExtensible: VendorExtensible{Extensions: map[string]interface{}{"x-teams": "test team"}}}
 
 func TestIntegrationContactInfo(t *testing.T) {
-	b, err := json.MarshalIndent(contactInfo, "", "\t")
+	b, err := json.MarshalIndent(contactInfo, "", " ")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, contactInfoJSON, string(b))
+	assert.JSONEq(t, contactInfoJSON, string(b))
 
 	actual := ContactInfo{}
 	err = json.Unmarshal([]byte(contactInfoJSON), &actual)
diff --git a/expander.go b/expander.go
index 74f91c3..124616c 100644
--- a/expander.go
+++ b/expander.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
+	stdjson "encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 )
 
@@ -28,11 +28,11 @@ import (
 //
 // PathLoader injects a document loading method. By default, this resolves to the function provided by the SpecLoader package variable.
 type ExpandOptions struct {
-	RelativeBase        string                                // the path to the root document to expand. This is a file, not a directory
-	SkipSchemas         bool                                  // do not expand schemas, just paths, parameters and responses
-	ContinueOnError     bool                                  // continue expanding even after and error is found
-	PathLoader          func(string) (json.RawMessage, error) `json:"-"` // the document loading method that takes a path as input and yields a json document
-	AbsoluteCircularRef bool                                  // circular $ref remaining after expansion remain absolute URLs
+	RelativeBase        string                                   // the path to the root document to expand. This is a file, not a directory
+	SkipSchemas         bool                                     // do not expand schemas, just paths, parameters and responses
+	ContinueOnError     bool                                     // continue expanding even after and error is found
+	PathLoader          func(string) (stdjson.RawMessage, error) `json:"-"` // the document loading method that takes a path as input and yields a json document
+	AbsoluteCircularRef bool                                     // circular $ref remaining after expansion remain absolute URLs
 }
 
 func optionsOrDefault(opts *ExpandOptions) *ExpandOptions {
diff --git a/expander_test.go b/expander_test.go
index 1ba1aac..a218d36 100644
--- a/expander_test.go
+++ b/expander_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
+	stdjson "encoding/json"
 	"io"
 	"log"
 	"net/http"
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ const (
 
 var (
 	// PetStoreJSONMessage json raw message for Petstore20
-	PetStoreJSONMessage = json.RawMessage([]byte(PetStore20))
+	PetStoreJSONMessage = stdjson.RawMessage([]byte(PetStore20))
 	specs               = filepath.Join("fixtures", "specs")
 )
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 898a3e9..d57926a 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer v0.20.2
 	github.com/go-openapi/jsonreference v0.20.4
 	github.com/go-openapi/swag v0.22.6
+	github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1
 )
@@ -12,6 +13,8 @@ require (
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 // indirect
 	github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0 // indirect
 	github.com/mailru/easyjson v0.7.7 // indirect
+	github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd // indirect
+	github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2 // indirect
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 // indirect
 )
 
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 3d2ef0b..ca17d9f 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.0/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1 h1:vj9j/u1bqnvCEfJOwUhtlOARqs3+rkHYY13jYWTU97c=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.1/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
 github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer v0.20.2 h1:mQc3nmndL8ZBzStEo3JYF8wzmeWffDH4VbXz58sAx6Q=
@@ -6,15 +7,25 @@ github.com/go-openapi/jsonreference v0.20.4 h1:bKlDxQxQJgwpUSgOENiMPzCTBVuc7vTdX
 github.com/go-openapi/jsonreference v0.20.4/go.mod h1:5pZJyJP2MnYCpoeoMAql78cCHauHj0V9Lhc506VOpw4=
 github.com/go-openapi/swag v0.22.6 h1:dnqg1XfHXL9aBxSbktBqFR5CxVyVI+7fYWhAf1JOeTw=
 github.com/go-openapi/swag v0.22.6/go.mod h1:Gl91UqO+btAM0plGGxHqJcQZ1ZTy6jbmridBTsDy8A0=
+github.com/google/gofuzz v1.0.0/go.mod h1:dBl0BpW6vV/+mYPU4Po3pmUjxk6FQPldtuIdl/M65Eg=
 github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0 h1:vlS4z54oSdjm0bgjRigI+G1HpF+tI+9rE5LLzOg8HmY=
 github.com/josharian/intern v1.0.0/go.mod h1:5DoeVV0s6jJacbCEi61lwdGj/aVlrQvzHFFd8Hwg//Y=
+github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12 h1:PV8peI4a0ysnczrg+LtxykD8LfKY9ML6u2jnxaEnrnM=
+github.com/json-iterator/go v1.1.12/go.mod h1:e30LSqwooZae/UwlEbR2852Gd8hjQvJoHmT4TnhNGBo=
 github.com/kr/pretty v0.3.1 h1:flRD4NNwYAUpkphVc1HcthR4KEIFJ65n8Mw5qdRn3LE=
 github.com/kr/text v0.2.0 h1:5Nx0Ya0ZqY2ygV366QzturHI13Jq95ApcVaJBhpS+AY=
 github.com/mailru/easyjson v0.7.7 h1:UGYAvKxe3sBsEDzO8ZeWOSlIQfWFlxbzLZe7hwFURr0=
 github.com/mailru/easyjson v0.7.7/go.mod h1:xzfreul335JAWq5oZzymOObrkdz5UnU4kGfJJLY9Nlc=
+github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180228061459-e0a39a4cb421/go.mod h1:6dJC0mAP4ikYIbvyc7fijjWJddQyLn8Ig3JB5CqoB9Q=
+github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd h1:TRLaZ9cD/w8PVh93nsPXa1VrQ6jlwL5oN8l14QlcNfg=
+github.com/modern-go/concurrent v0.0.0-20180306012644-bacd9c7ef1dd/go.mod h1:6dJC0mAP4ikYIbvyc7fijjWJddQyLn8Ig3JB5CqoB9Q=
+github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2 h1:xBagoLtFs94CBntxluKeaWgTMpvLxC4ur3nMaC9Gz0M=
+github.com/modern-go/reflect2 v1.0.2/go.mod h1:yWuevngMOJpCy52FWWMvUC8ws7m/LJsjYzDa0/r8luk=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0 h1:4DBwDE0NGyQoBHbLQYPwSUPoCMWR5BEzIk/f1lZbAQM=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.0/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
 github.com/rogpeppe/go-internal v1.11.0 h1:cWPaGQEPrBb5/AsnsZesgZZ9yb1OQ+GOISoDNXVBh4M=
+github.com/stretchr/objx v0.1.0/go.mod h1:HFkY916IF+rwdDfMAkV7OtwuqBVzrE8GR6GFx+wExME=
+github.com/stretchr/testify v1.3.0/go.mod h1:M5WIy9Dh21IEIfnGCwXGc5bZfKNJtfHm1UVUgZn+9EI=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4 h1:CcVxjf3Q8PM0mHUKJCdn+eZZtm5yQwehR5yeSVQQcUk=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.8.4/go.mod h1:sz/lmYIOXD/1dqDmKjjqLyZ2RngseejIcXlSw2iwfAo=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
diff --git a/header.go b/header.go
index 9dfd17b..b4d1249 100644
--- a/header.go
+++ b/header.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer"
diff --git a/header_test.go b/header_test.go
index 67a893a..898f3de 100644
--- a/header_test.go
+++ b/header_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/go-openapi/swag"
diff --git a/helpers_spec_test.go b/helpers_spec_test.go
index 4dd12c5..df8ab5d 100644
--- a/helpers_spec_test.go
+++ b/helpers_spec_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package spec_test
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	stdjson "encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
@@ -15,12 +16,12 @@ import (
 
 var (
 	rex        = regexp.MustCompile(`"\$ref":\s*"(.*?)"`)
-	testLoader func(string) (json.RawMessage, error)
+	testLoader func(string) (stdjson.RawMessage, error)
 )
 
 func init() {
 	// mimics what the go-openapi/load does
-	testLoader = func(path string) (json.RawMessage, error) {
+	testLoader = func(path string) (stdjson.RawMessage, error) {
 		if swag.YAMLMatcher(path) {
 			return swag.YAMLDoc(path)
 		}
@@ -28,7 +29,7 @@ func init() {
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
-		return json.RawMessage(data), nil
+		return stdjson.RawMessage(data), nil
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/helpers_test.go b/helpers_test.go
index f16a4dd..e90a182 100644
--- a/helpers_test.go
+++ b/helpers_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
+	stdjson "encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"regexp"
 	"strings"
@@ -14,12 +14,12 @@ import (
 
 var rex = regexp.MustCompile(`"\$ref":\s*"(.*?)"`)
 
-func jsonDoc(path string) (json.RawMessage, error) {
+func jsonDoc(path string) (stdjson.RawMessage, error) {
 	data, err := swag.LoadFromFileOrHTTP(path)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	return json.RawMessage(data), nil
+	return stdjson.RawMessage(data), nil
 }
 
 func docAndOpts(t testing.TB, fixturePath string) ([]byte, *ExpandOptions) {
diff --git a/info.go b/info.go
index 582f0fd..1cf7e67 100644
--- a/info.go
+++ b/info.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
diff --git a/info_test.go b/info_test.go
index a8e3fbe..c98aa2d 100644
--- a/info_test.go
+++ b/info_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -57,9 +56,9 @@ var info = Info{
 }
 
 func TestIntegrationInfo_Serialize(t *testing.T) {
-	b, err := json.MarshalIndent(info, "", "\t")
+	b, err := json.MarshalIndent(info, "", " ")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, infoJSON, string(b))
+	assert.JSONEq(t, infoJSON, string(b))
 }
 
 func TestIntegrationInfo_Deserialize(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/items.go b/items.go
index e2afb21..a128b03 100644
--- a/items.go
+++ b/items.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer"
diff --git a/items_test.go b/items_test.go
index 4d4e458..d1b34c3 100644
--- a/items_test.go
+++ b/items_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/go-openapi/swag"
diff --git a/license.go b/license.go
index b42f803..a0a3aa3 100644
--- a/license.go
+++ b/license.go
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
-
 	"github.com/go-openapi/swag"
 )
 
diff --git a/license_test.go b/license_test.go
index 398f0d8..2000338 100644
--- a/license_test.go
+++ b/license_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -36,9 +35,9 @@ func TestIntegrationLicense(t *testing.T) {
 
 	// const licenseYAML = "name: the name\nurl: the url\n"
 
-	b, err := json.MarshalIndent(license, "", "\t")
+	b, err := json.MarshalIndent(license, "", " ")
 	require.NoError(t, err)
-	assert.Equal(t, licenseJSON, string(b))
+	assert.JSONEq(t, licenseJSON, string(b))
 
 	actual := License{}
 	err = json.Unmarshal([]byte(licenseJSON), &actual)
diff --git a/operation.go b/operation.go
index a69cca8..9789af0 100644
--- a/operation.go
+++ b/operation.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ package spec
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/gob"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"sort"
 
 	"github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer"
diff --git a/operation_test.go b/operation_test.go
index 495f609..065af2c 100644
--- a/operation_test.go
+++ b/operation_test.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ package spec
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/gob"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
diff --git a/parameter.go b/parameter.go
index bd4f1cd..f96c22c 100644
--- a/parameter.go
+++ b/parameter.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer"
diff --git a/parameters_test.go b/parameters_test.go
index 702d867..86d5925 100644
--- a/parameters_test.go
+++ b/parameters_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/go-openapi/swag"
diff --git a/path_item.go b/path_item.go
index 68fc8e9..e698c63 100644
--- a/path_item.go
+++ b/path_item.go
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
-
 	"github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer"
 	"github.com/go-openapi/swag"
 )
diff --git a/path_item_test.go b/path_item_test.go
index c3507a0..4c9e0a6 100644
--- a/path_item_test.go
+++ b/path_item_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
diff --git a/paths.go b/paths.go
index 9dc82a2..ca87b84 100644
--- a/paths.go
+++ b/paths.go
@@ -15,10 +15,11 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 
+	stdjson "encoding/json"
+
 	"github.com/go-openapi/swag"
 )
 
@@ -46,7 +47,7 @@ func (p Paths) JSONLookup(token string) (interface{}, error) {
 
 // UnmarshalJSON hydrates this items instance with the data from JSON
 func (p *Paths) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
-	var res map[string]json.RawMessage
+	var res map[string]stdjson.RawMessage
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &res); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/paths_test.go b/paths_test.go
index 4592818..f44f8d2 100644
--- a/paths_test.go
+++ b/paths_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
diff --git a/properties.go b/properties.go
index 91d2435..ad7fcef 100644
--- a/properties.go
+++ b/properties.go
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ package spec
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"reflect"
 	"sort"
 )
diff --git a/ref.go b/ref.go
index b0ef9bd..6e7ceaa 100644
--- a/ref.go
+++ b/ref.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ package spec
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/gob"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
diff --git a/ref_test.go b/ref_test.go
index 6f4c0de..7deb3c9 100644
--- a/ref_test.go
+++ b/ref_test.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ package spec
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/gob"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
diff --git a/resolver_test.go b/resolver_test.go
index b1c977a..a4b0d02 100644
--- a/resolver_test.go
+++ b/resolver_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
 	"os"
diff --git a/response.go b/response.go
index 0340b60..cac496f 100644
--- a/response.go
+++ b/response.go
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
-
 	"github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer"
 	"github.com/go-openapi/swag"
 )
diff --git a/response_test.go b/response_test.go
index d03720c..f2715ad 100644
--- a/response_test.go
+++ b/response_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
diff --git a/responses.go b/responses.go
index 16c3076..1d36303 100644
--- a/responses.go
+++ b/responses.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
+	stdjson "encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"reflect"
 	"strconv"
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ func (r ResponsesProps) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 
 // UnmarshalJSON unmarshals responses from JSON
 func (r *ResponsesProps) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
-	var res map[string]json.RawMessage
+	var res map[string]stdjson.RawMessage
 	if err := json.Unmarshal(data, &res); err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
diff --git a/responses_test.go b/responses_test.go
index fc626bf..a2f8766 100644
--- a/responses_test.go
+++ b/responses_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
diff --git a/schema.go b/schema.go
index 4e9be85..d3756f6 100644
--- a/schema.go
+++ b/schema.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"strings"
 
diff --git a/schema_loader.go b/schema_loader.go
index 0059b99..20865c3 100644
--- a/schema_loader.go
+++ b/schema_loader.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
+	stdjson "encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"net/url"
@@ -33,12 +33,12 @@ import (
 // NOTE: if you are using the go-openapi/loads package, it will override
 // this value with its own default (a loader to retrieve YAML documents as
 // well as JSON ones).
-var PathLoader = func(pth string) (json.RawMessage, error) {
+var PathLoader = func(pth string) (stdjson.RawMessage, error) {
 	data, err := swag.LoadFromFileOrHTTP(pth)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	return json.RawMessage(data), nil
+	return stdjson.RawMessage(data), nil
 }
 
 // resolverContext allows to share a context during spec processing.
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ type resolverContext struct {
 	// concurrent access, unless we chose to implement a parallel spec walking.
 	circulars map[string]bool
 	basePath  string
-	loadDoc   func(string) (json.RawMessage, error)
+	loadDoc   func(string) (stdjson.RawMessage, error)
 	rootID    string
 }
 
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ func newResolverContext(options *ExpandOptions) *resolverContext {
 	expandOptions := optionsOrDefault(options)
 
 	// path loader may be overridden by options
-	var loader func(string) (json.RawMessage, error)
+	var loader func(string) (stdjson.RawMessage, error)
 	if expandOptions.PathLoader == nil {
 		loader = PathLoader
 	} else {
@@ -77,6 +77,7 @@ type schemaLoader struct {
 	options *ExpandOptions
 	cache   ResolutionCache
 	context *resolverContext
+	loadDoc func(string) (stdjson.RawMessage, error)
 }
 
 func (r *schemaLoader) transitiveResolver(basePath string, ref Ref) *schemaLoader {
@@ -327,5 +328,9 @@ func defaultSchemaLoader(
 		options: expandOptions,
 		cache:   cache,
 		context: context,
+		loadDoc: func(path string) (stdjson.RawMessage, error) {
+			debugLog("fetching document at %q", path)
+			return PathLoader(path)
+		},
 	}
 }
diff --git a/schema_loader_test.go b/schema_loader_test.go
index 67a1e79..15a191d 100644
--- a/schema_loader_test.go
+++ b/schema_loader_test.go
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
 
diff --git a/schema_test.go b/schema_test.go
index 038284c..1dae698 100644
--- a/schema_test.go
+++ b/schema_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/go-openapi/swag"
diff --git a/security_scheme.go b/security_scheme.go
index 9d0bdae..25e045f 100644
--- a/security_scheme.go
+++ b/security_scheme.go
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
-
 	"github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer"
 	"github.com/go-openapi/swag"
 )
diff --git a/spec.go b/spec.go
index 876aa12..ee72f30 100644
--- a/spec.go
+++ b/spec.go
@@ -14,10 +14,6 @@
 
 package spec
 
-import (
-	"encoding/json"
-)
-
 //go:generate curl -L --progress -o ./schemas/v2/schema.json http://swagger.io/v2/schema.json
 //go:generate curl -L --progress  -o ./schemas/jsonschema-draft-04.json http://json-schema.org/draft-04/schema
 //go:generate go-bindata -pkg=spec -prefix=./schemas -ignore=.*\.md ./schemas/...
diff --git a/structs_test.go b/structs_test.go
index c8e191a..d0cad38 100644
--- a/structs_test.go
+++ b/structs_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"reflect"
 	"testing"
 
diff --git a/swagger.go b/swagger.go
index 1590fd1..d17df08 100644
--- a/swagger.go
+++ b/swagger.go
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ package spec
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"encoding/gob"
-	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"strconv"
 
diff --git a/swagger_test.go b/swagger_test.go
index cb288e6..1954da7 100644
--- a/swagger_test.go
+++ b/swagger_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
diff --git a/tag.go b/tag.go
index faa3d3d..a2af8af 100644
--- a/tag.go
+++ b/tag.go
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
-
 	"github.com/go-openapi/jsonpointer"
 	"github.com/go-openapi/swag"
 )
diff --git a/xml_object_test.go b/xml_object_test.go
index 8573e82..de8fa65 100644
--- a/xml_object_test.go
+++ b/xml_object_test.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package spec
 
 import (
-	"encoding/json"
 	"testing"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"