diff --git a/History.md b/History.md
index d319d221b3..cc9ae55a3d 100644
--- a/History.md
+++ b/History.md
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
   * New configuration option to set state file permissions (#2238)
 
 * Deprecations, Removals and Breaking API Changes
-  * `Puma.stats` now returns a Hash instead of a JSON string (#2086)
+  * `Puma.stats_hash` returns a Hash version of the stats (#2086, )
   * `--control` has been removed. Use `--control-url` (#1487)
   * `worker_directory` has been removed. Use `directory`.
   * min_threads now set by environment variables PUMA_MIN_THREADS and MIN_THREADS. (#2143)
diff --git a/lib/puma.rb b/lib/puma.rb
index cb46f8ca35..bd667116f1 100644
--- a/lib/puma.rb
+++ b/lib/puma.rb
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ def self.stats_object=(val)
   end
 
   def self.stats
+    @get_stats.stats.to_json
+  end
+
+  def self.stats_hash
     @get_stats.stats
   end
 
diff --git a/test/test_cli.rb b/test/test_cli.rb
index eb0f1e98b2..22597f06f7 100644
--- a/test/test_cli.rb
+++ b/test/test_cli.rb
@@ -55,6 +55,8 @@ def test_control_for_tcp
     body = s.read
     s.close
 
+    assert_equal Puma.stats_hash, JSON.parse(Puma.stats, symbolize_names: true)
+
     dmt = Puma::Configuration.new.default_max_threads
     assert_match(/{"started_at":"\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}Z","backlog":0,"running":0,"pool_capacity":#{dmt},"max_threads":#{dmt},"requests_count":0}/, body.split(/\r?\n/).last)
 
diff --git a/test/test_launcher.rb b/test/test_launcher.rb
index 53505c3100..39fb7ab88d 100644
--- a/test/test_launcher.rb
+++ b/test/test_launcher.rb
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ def test_puma_stats
     launcher.events.on_booted {launcher.stop}
     launcher.run
     Puma::Server::STAT_METHODS.each do |stat|
-      assert_includes Puma.stats, stat
+      assert_includes Puma.stats_hash, stat
     end
   end
 
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ def test_puma_stats_clustered
     launcher = launcher(conf)
     Thread.new do
       sleep Puma::Const::WORKER_CHECK_INTERVAL + 1
-      status = Puma.stats[:worker_status].first[:last_status]
+      status = Puma.stats_hash[:worker_status].first[:last_status]
       Puma::Server::STAT_METHODS.each do |stat|
         assert_includes status, stat
       end