diff --git a/scripts/base/frameworks/openflow/plugins/ryu.zeek b/scripts/base/frameworks/openflow/plugins/ryu.zeek
index cc400293a0..08e8c8d022 100644
--- a/scripts/base/frameworks/openflow/plugins/ryu.zeek
+++ b/scripts/base/frameworks/openflow/plugins/ryu.zeek
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 @load base/frameworks/openflow
 @load base/utils/active-http
 @load base/utils/exec
-@load base/utils/json
 
 module OpenFlow;
 
diff --git a/scripts/base/utils/json.zeek b/scripts/base/utils/json.zeek
index 5bce89d18b..a9662e74a2 100644
--- a/scripts/base/utils/json.zeek
+++ b/scripts/base/utils/json.zeek
@@ -1,109 +1,2 @@
-##! Functions to assist with generating JSON data from Zeek data scructures.
-# We might want to implement this in core somtime, this looks... hacky at best.
-
-@load base/utils/strings
-
-## A function to convert arbitrary Zeek data into a JSON string.
-##
-## v: The value to convert to JSON.  Typically a record.
-##
-## only_loggable: If the v value is a record this will only cause
-##                fields with the &log attribute to be included in the JSON.
-##
-## returns: a JSON formatted string.
-function to_json(v: any, only_loggable: bool &default=F, field_escape_pattern: pattern &default=/^_/): string
-	{
-	local tn = type_name(v);
-	switch ( tn )
-		{
-		case "type":
-		return "";
-
-		case "string":
-		return cat("\"", gsub(gsub(clean(v), /\\/, "\\\\"), /\"/, "\\\""), "\"");
-
-		case "port":
-		return cat(port_to_count(to_port(cat(v))));
-
-		case "enum":
-		fallthrough;
-		case "interval":
-		fallthrough;
-		case "addr":
-		fallthrough;
-		case "subnet":
-		return cat("\"", v, "\"");
-
-		case "int":
-		fallthrough;
-		case "count":
-		fallthrough;
-		case "time":
-		return cat(v);
-
-		case "double":
-		return fmt("%.16g", v);
-
-		case "bool":
-		local bval: bool = v;
-		return bval ? "true" : "false";
-
-		default:
-		break;
-		}
-
-	if ( /^record/ in tn )
-		{
-		local rec_parts: string_vec = vector();
-
-		local ft = record_fields(v);
-		for ( field, field_desc in ft )
-			{
-			# replace the escape pattern in the field.
-			if( field_escape_pattern in field )
-				field = cat(sub(field, field_escape_pattern, ""));
-			if ( field_desc?$value && (!only_loggable || field_desc$log) )
-				{
-				local onepart = cat("\"", field, "\": ", to_json(field_desc$value, only_loggable));
-				rec_parts += onepart;
-				}
-			}
-			return cat("{", join_string_vec(rec_parts, ", "), "}");
-		}
-
-	# None of the following are supported.
-	else if ( /^set/ in tn )
-		{
-		local set_parts: string_vec = vector();
-		local sa: set[bool] = v;
-		for ( sv in sa )
-			{
-			set_parts += to_json(sv, only_loggable);
-			}
-		return cat("[", join_string_vec(set_parts, ", "), "]");
-		}
-	else if ( /^table/ in tn )
-		{
-		local tab_parts: vector of string = vector();
-		local ta: table[bool] of any = v;
-		for ( ti, tv in ta )
-			{
-			local ts = to_json(ti);
-			local if_quotes = (ts[0] == "\"") ? "" : "\"";
-			tab_parts += cat(if_quotes, ts, if_quotes, ": ", to_json(tv, only_loggable));
-			}
-		return cat("{", join_string_vec(tab_parts, ", "), "}");
-		}
-	else if ( /^vector/ in tn )
-		{
-		local vec_parts: string_vec = vector();
-		local va: vector of any = v;
-		for ( vi in va )
-			{
-			vec_parts += to_json(va[vi], only_loggable);
-			}
-		return cat("[", join_string_vec(vec_parts, ", "), "]");
-		}
-
-	return "\"\"";
-	}
+## This file is deprecated in favor of to_json in zeek.bif
+@deprecated="Remove in 3.1.  to_json is now always available as a built-in function."
diff --git a/src/Val.cc b/src/Val.cc
index f45a1ff6d0..74e1199723 100644
--- a/src/Val.cc
+++ b/src/Val.cc
@@ -27,6 +27,16 @@
 
 #include "broker/Data.h"
 
+#include "3rdparty/json.hpp"
+#include "3rdparty/fifo_map.hpp"
+
+// Define a class for use with the json library that orders the keys in the same order that
+// they were inserted. By default, the json library orders them alphabetically and we don't
+// want it like that.
+template<class K, class V, class compare, class A>
+using json_fifo_map = nlohmann::fifo_map<K, V, nlohmann::fifo_map_compare<K>, A>;
+using ZeekJson = nlohmann::basic_json<json_fifo_map>;
+
 Val::Val(Func* f)
 	{
 	val.func_val = f;
@@ -444,7 +454,208 @@ TableVal* Val::GetRecordFields()
 		}
 
 	return fields;
+	}
 
+// This is a static method in this file to avoid including json.hpp in Val.h since it's huge.
+static ZeekJson BuildJSON(Val* val, bool only_loggable=false, RE_Matcher* re=new RE_Matcher("^_"))
+	{
+	ZeekJson j;
+	BroType* type = val->Type();
+	switch ( type->Tag() )
+		{
+		case TYPE_BOOL:
+			j = val->AsBool();
+			break;
+
+		case TYPE_INT:
+			j = val->AsInt();
+			break;
+
+		case TYPE_COUNT:
+			j = val->AsCount();
+			break;
+
+		case TYPE_COUNTER:
+			j = val->AsCounter();
+			break;
+
+		case TYPE_TIME:
+			j = val->AsTime();
+			break;
+
+		case TYPE_DOUBLE:
+			j = val->AsDouble();
+			break;
+
+		case TYPE_PORT:
+			{
+			auto* pval = val->AsPortVal();
+			j["port"] = pval->Port();
+			j["proto"] = pval->Protocol();
+			break;
+			}
+
+		case TYPE_PATTERN:
+		case TYPE_INTERVAL:
+		case TYPE_ADDR:
+		case TYPE_SUBNET:
+			{
+			ODesc d;
+			d.SetStyle(RAW_STYLE);
+			val->Describe(&d);
+
+			auto* bs = new BroString(1, d.TakeBytes(), d.Len());
+			j = string((char*)bs->Bytes(), bs->Len());
+
+			delete bs;
+			break;
+			}
+
+		case TYPE_FILE:
+		case TYPE_FUNC:
+		case TYPE_ENUM:
+		case TYPE_STRING:
+			{
+			ODesc d;
+			d.SetStyle(RAW_STYLE);
+			val->Describe(&d);
+
+			auto* bs = new BroString(1, d.TakeBytes(), d.Len());
+			j = json_escape_utf8(string((char*)bs->Bytes(), bs->Len()));
+
+			delete bs;
+			break;
+			}
+
+		case TYPE_TABLE:
+			{
+			auto* table = val->AsTable();
+			auto* tval = val->AsTableVal();
+
+			if ( tval->Type()->IsSet() )
+				j = ZeekJson::array();
+			else
+				j = ZeekJson::object();
+
+			HashKey* k;
+			auto c = table->InitForIteration();
+			while ( table->NextEntry(k, c) )
+				{
+				auto lv = tval->RecoverIndex(k);
+				delete k;
+
+				if ( tval->Type()->IsSet() )
+					{
+					auto* value = lv->Index(0)->Ref();
+					j.push_back(BuildJSON(value, only_loggable, re));
+					Unref(value);
+					}
+				else
+					{
+					ZeekJson key_json;
+					Val* entry_value;
+					if ( lv->Length() == 1 )
+						{
+						Val* entry_key = lv->Index(0)->Ref();
+						entry_value = tval->Lookup(entry_key, true);
+						key_json = BuildJSON(entry_key, only_loggable, re);
+						Unref(entry_key);
+						}
+					else
+						{
+						entry_value = tval->Lookup(lv, true);
+						key_json = BuildJSON(lv, only_loggable, re);
+						}
+
+					string key_string;
+					if ( key_json.is_string() )
+						key_string = key_json;
+					else
+						key_string = key_json.dump();
+
+					j[key_string] = BuildJSON(entry_value, only_loggable, re);
+					}
+
+				Unref(lv);
+				}
+
+			break;
+			}
+
+		case TYPE_RECORD:
+			{
+			j = ZeekJson::object();
+			auto* rval = val->AsRecordVal();
+			TableVal* fields = rval->GetRecordFields();
+			auto* field_indexes = fields->ConvertToPureList();
+			int num_indexes = field_indexes->Length();
+
+			for ( int i = 0; i < num_indexes; ++i )
+				{
+				Val* key = field_indexes->Index(i);
+				auto* key_field = fields->Lookup(key)->AsRecordVal();
+
+				auto* key_val = key->AsStringVal();
+				string key_string;
+				if ( re->MatchAnywhere(key_val->AsString()) != 0 )
+					{
+					key_val = key_val->Substitute(re, new StringVal(""), 0)->AsStringVal();
+					key_string = key_val->ToStdString();
+					delete key_val;
+					}
+				else
+					key_string = key_val->ToStdString();
+
+				Val* value = key_field->Lookup("value", true);
+
+				if ( value && ( ! only_loggable || key_field->Lookup("log")->AsBool() ) )
+					j[key_string] = BuildJSON(value, only_loggable, re);
+				}
+
+			delete fields;
+			break;
+			}
+
+		case TYPE_LIST:
+			{
+			j = ZeekJson::array();
+			auto* lval = val->AsListVal();
+			size_t size = lval->Length();
+			for (size_t i = 0; i < size; i++)
+				j.push_back(BuildJSON(lval->Index(i), only_loggable, re));
+
+			break;
+			}
+
+		case TYPE_VECTOR:
+			{
+			j = ZeekJson::array();
+			auto* vval = val->AsVectorVal();
+			size_t size = vval->SizeVal()->AsCount();
+			for (size_t i = 0; i < size; i++)
+				j.push_back(BuildJSON(vval->Lookup(i), only_loggable, re));
+
+			break;
+			}
+
+		case TYPE_OPAQUE:
+			{
+			j = ZeekJson::object();
+			auto* oval = val->AsOpaqueVal();
+			j["opaque_type"] = OpaqueMgr::mgr()->TypeID(oval);
+			break;
+			}
+
+		default: break;
+		}
+
+	return j;
+	}
+
+StringVal* Val::ToJSON(bool only_loggable, RE_Matcher* re)
+	{
+	ZeekJson j = BuildJSON(this, only_loggable, re);
+	return new StringVal(j.dump());
 	}
 
 IntervalVal::IntervalVal(double quantity, double units) :
@@ -558,6 +769,18 @@ uint32 PortVal::Port() const
 	return p & ~PORT_SPACE_MASK;
 	}
 
+string PortVal::Protocol() const
+	{
+	if ( IsUDP() )
+		return "udp";
+	else if ( IsTCP() )
+		return "tcp";
+	else if ( IsICMP() )
+		return "icmp";
+	else
+		return "unknown";
+	}
+
 int PortVal::IsTCP() const
 	{
 	return (val.uint_val & PORT_SPACE_MASK) == TCP_PORT_MASK;
@@ -577,14 +800,8 @@ void PortVal::ValDescribe(ODesc* d) const
 	{
 	uint32 p = static_cast<uint32>(val.uint_val);
 	d->Add(p & ~PORT_SPACE_MASK);
-	if ( IsUDP() )
-		d->Add("/udp");
-	else if ( IsTCP() )
-		d->Add("/tcp");
-	else if ( IsICMP() )
-		d->Add("/icmp");
-	else
-		d->Add("/unknown");
+	d->Add("/");
+	d->Add(Protocol());
 	}
 
 Val* PortVal::DoClone(CloneState* state)
diff --git a/src/Val.h b/src/Val.h
index b2aea5d4e5..3420d8577d 100644
--- a/src/Val.h
+++ b/src/Val.h
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include "Notifier.h"
 #include "IPAddr.h"
 #include "DebugLogger.h"
+#include "RE.h"
 
 // We have four different port name spaces: TCP, UDP, ICMP, and UNKNOWN.
 // We distinguish between them based on the bits specified in the *_PORT_MASK
@@ -34,7 +35,6 @@
 class Val;
 class Func;
 class BroFile;
-class RE_Matcher;
 class PrefixTable;
 
 class PortVal;
@@ -349,6 +349,8 @@ public:
 
 	TableVal* GetRecordFields();
 
+	StringVal* ToJSON(bool only_loggable=false, RE_Matcher* re=new RE_Matcher("^_"));
+
 protected:
 
 	friend class EnumType;
@@ -532,6 +534,7 @@ public:
 
 	// Returns the port number in host order (not including the mask).
 	uint32 Port() const;
+	string Protocol() const;
 
 	// Tests for protocol types.
 	int IsTCP() const;
diff --git a/src/zeek.bif b/src/zeek.bif
index afd7e26083..8b7a047189 100644
--- a/src/zeek.bif
+++ b/src/zeek.bif
@@ -5039,3 +5039,16 @@ function anonymize_addr%(a: addr, cl: IPAddrAnonymizationClass%): addr
 			(enum ip_addr_anonymization_class_t) anon_class));
 		}
 	%}
+
+## A function to convert arbitrary Zeek data into a JSON string.
+##
+## v: The value to convert to JSON.  Typically a record.
+##
+## only_loggable: If the v value is a record this will only cause
+##                fields with the &log attribute to be included in the JSON.
+##
+## returns: a JSON formatted string.
+function to_json%(val: any, only_loggable: bool &default=F, field_escape_pattern: pattern &default=/^_/%): string
+	%{
+	return val->ToJSON(only_loggable, field_escape_pattern);
+	%}