diff --git a/wled00/src/dependencies/json/AsyncJson-v6.h b/wled00/src/dependencies/json/AsyncJson-v6.h
index 8fc01506..fefa154f 100644
--- a/wled00/src/dependencies/json/AsyncJson-v6.h
+++ b/wled00/src/dependencies/json/AsyncJson-v6.h
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 
 // global WLED memory functions (util.cpp)
 extern "C" {
+  // only allocate from internal DRAM, never uses PSRAM
+  void *d_malloc_only(size_t);
   // prefer DRAM in d_xalloc functions, PSRAM as fallback
   void *d_malloc(size_t);
   void *d_calloc(size_t, size_t);
@@ -168,8 +170,9 @@ public:
     if (_onRequest) {
       _contentLength = total;
       if (total > 0 && request->_tempObject == NULL && (int)total < _maxContentLength) {
+        //request->_tempObject = malloc(total);
         //request->_tempObject = d_malloc(total); // seems to cause instabilities on classic esp32 with PSRAM
-        request->_tempObject = malloc(total);
+        request->_tempObject = d_malloc_only(total);
       }
       if (request->_tempObject != NULL) {
         memcpy((uint8_t*)(request->_tempObject) + index, data, len);
diff --git a/wled00/util.cpp b/wled00/util.cpp
index 39fee6d9..f9de20d0 100644
--- a/wled00/util.cpp
+++ b/wled00/util.cpp
@@ -732,6 +732,10 @@ void *d_malloc(size_t size) {
   return validateFreeHeap(buffer);
 }
 
+void *d_malloc_only(size_t size) {
+  return d_malloc(size);
+}
+
 void *d_calloc(size_t count, size_t size) {
   void *buffer = calloc(count, size);
   return validateFreeHeap(buffer);
@@ -802,7 +806,7 @@ static inline bool isOkForDRAMHeap(size_t amount) {
   size_t avail = d_measureContiguousFreeHeap();
   if ((amount < avail) && (avail - amount > MIN_HEAP_SIZE)) return true;
   else {
-    DEBUG_PRINTF("* isOkForDRAMHeap() DRAM allocation rejected (%u bytes requested, %u available) !\n", amount, avail);
+    USER_PRINTF("* isOkForDRAMHeap() DRAM allocation rejected (%u bytes requested, %u-%u available).\n", amount, avail, MIN_HEAP_SIZE);
     return(false);
   }
   #else
@@ -859,6 +863,17 @@ void *d_malloc(size_t size) {
   return buffer;
 }
 
+void *d_malloc_only(size_t size) {
+  // variant of d_malloc that only allocates from "internal" DRAM (no PSRAM fallback)
+  void *buffer = nullptr;
+  if (isOkForDRAMHeap(size)) // no RTC RAM allocation allowed, always request DRAM
+    buffer = heap_caps_malloc(size, MALLOC_CAP_INTERNAL | MALLOC_CAP_8BIT);
+
+  buffer = validateFreeHeap(buffer); // make sure there is enough free heap left
+  if (!buffer) { USER_PRINTF("* d_malloc_only() failed (%u bytes) !\n", size); }
+  return buffer;
+}
+
 void *d_calloc(size_t count, size_t size) {
   // similar to d_malloc but uses heap_caps_calloc
   void *buffer = nullptr;
diff --git a/wled00/util.h b/wled00/util.h
index 658adf3c..69564618 100644
--- a/wled00/util.h
+++ b/wled00/util.h
@@ -88,6 +88,8 @@ inline uint8_t hw_random8(uint32_t lowerlimit, uint32_t upperlimit) { uint32_t r
 
 // memory allocation wrappers (util.cpp)
 extern "C" {
+  // only allocate from internal DRAM, never uses PSRAM
+  void *d_malloc_only(size_t);
   // prefer DRAM in d_xalloc functions, PSRAM as fallback
   void *d_malloc(size_t);
   void *d_calloc(size_t, size_t);