diff --git a/src/DeepCompositeSymbol.ts b/src/DeepCompositeSymbol.ts
index 45df621a..b4872846 100644
--- a/src/DeepCompositeSymbol.ts
+++ b/src/DeepCompositeSymbol.ts
@@ -13,11 +13,21 @@ const DeepCompositeSymbol = (object: any, filter?: (entry: [string, any]) => boo
   return Tuple.unsafeSymbol(...flatten(entries));
 };
 
-export const shallow = Symbol('shallow');
+export const shallowKey = Symbol('shallow');
+export const shallowCache = new WeakSet<object>();
+export const shallow = <A extends object>(a: A): A => {
+  shallowCache.add(a);
+  return a;
+};
 
 const update = (entry: [string, any], filter?: any) => {
   const value = entry[1];
-  if (isObject(value) && !(value as any)[shallow] && !(value instanceof Tuple)) {
+  if (
+    isObject(value) &&
+    !(value as any)[shallowKey] &&
+    !(value instanceof Tuple) &&
+    !shallowCache.has(value)
+  ) {
     entry[1] = DeepCompositeSymbol(value, filter);
   }
 };
diff --git a/src/tuplerone.ts b/src/tuplerone.ts
index d13273e5..c855dbcd 100644
--- a/src/tuplerone.ts
+++ b/src/tuplerone.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ import ValueObject from './ValueObject';
 
 export { symbol as CompositeSymbol } from './Tuple';
 export { memoize } from './memoize';
-export { shallow } from './DeepCompositeSymbol';
+export { shallowKey, shallow } from './DeepCompositeSymbol';
 
 /**
  * A tuple whose members are allowed to all be primitive,
diff --git a/test/ValueObject.test.ts b/test/ValueObject.test.ts
index 67cf7cdf..bd9430f3 100644
--- a/test/ValueObject.test.ts
+++ b/test/ValueObject.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-import { ValueObject, shallow } from '../src/tuplerone';
+import { ValueObject, shallowKey, shallow } from '../src/tuplerone';
 
 describe(ValueObject.name, () => {
   it('constructs', () => {
@@ -45,7 +45,15 @@ describe(ValueObject.name, () => {
     const b = { a };
     a.b = b;
     expect(() => ValueObject(a)).toThrow();
-    a[shallow] = true;
+    a[shallowKey] = true;
     expect(() => ValueObject(a)).not.toThrow();
   });
+
+  it('can be short-circuited using a WeakSet registry', () => {
+    const a: any = {};
+    const b = { a };
+    a.b = b;
+    expect(() => ValueObject(a)).toThrow();
+    expect(() => ValueObject(shallow(a))).not.toThrow();
+  });
 });