diff --git a/benches/microbenchmarks.rs b/benches/microbenchmarks.rs
index 505e0819f8..377196e8bd 100644
--- a/benches/microbenchmarks.rs
+++ b/benches/microbenchmarks.rs
@@ -3,9 +3,7 @@ use criterion::{
     criterion_group, criterion_main, BatchSize, BenchmarkGroup, BenchmarkId, Criterion, Throughput,
 };
 use rustpython_compiler::Mode;
-use rustpython_vm::ItemProtocol;
-use rustpython_vm::PyResult;
-use rustpython_vm::{InitParameter, Interpreter, PySettings};
+use rustpython_vm::{utils::ascii, InitParameter, Interpreter, ItemProtocol, PyResult, PySettings};
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::{ffi, fs, io};
 
@@ -133,7 +131,7 @@ fn bench_rustpy_code(group: &mut BenchmarkGroup<WallTime>, bench: &MicroBenchmar
                 scope
                     .locals
                     .set_item(
-                        vm.ctx.new_ascii_literal(crate::utils::ascii!("ITERATIONS")),
+                        vm.ctx.new_ascii_literal(ascii!("ITERATIONS")),
                         vm.ctx.new_int(idx),
                         vm,
                     )
diff --git a/vm/src/lib.rs b/vm/src/lib.rs
index 6a301e278b..4c8e15c255 100644
--- a/vm/src/lib.rs
+++ b/vm/src/lib.rs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ pub use rustpython_derive::*;
 
 // This is above everything else so that the defined macros are available everywhere
 #[macro_use]
-pub mod macros;
+pub(crate) mod macros;
 
 mod anystr;
 pub mod builtins;
diff --git a/vm/src/macros.rs b/vm/src/macros.rs
index 6997e9231f..ae3dcffb22 100644
--- a/vm/src/macros.rs
+++ b/vm/src/macros.rs
@@ -249,3 +249,13 @@ cfg_if::cfg_if! {
         }
     }
 }
+
+macro_rules! ascii {
+    ($x:literal) => {{
+        const _: () = {
+            ["not ascii"][!rustpython_vm::utils::bytes_is_ascii($x) as usize];
+        };
+        unsafe { ascii::AsciiStr::from_ascii_unchecked($x.as_bytes()) }
+    }};
+}
+pub use ascii;
diff --git a/vm/src/utils.rs b/vm/src/utils.rs
index d0f65de272..953eb8932c 100644
--- a/vm/src/utils.rs
+++ b/vm/src/utils.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
-use crate::builtins::{pystr::PyStr, PyFloat};
-use crate::exceptions::IntoPyException;
 use crate::{
+    builtins::{pystr::PyStr, PyFloat},
+    exceptions::IntoPyException,
     IntoPyObject, PyObjectRef, PyRef, PyResult, PyValue, TryFromObject, TypeProtocol,
     VirtualMachine,
 };
 use num_traits::ToPrimitive;
 
+pub use crate::macros::ascii;
+
 pub enum Either<A, B> {
     A(A),
     B(B),
@@ -127,8 +129,7 @@ impl ToCString for PyStr {
     }
 }
 
-#[allow(dead_code)]
-pub(crate) const fn bytes_is_ascii(x: &str) -> bool {
+pub const fn bytes_is_ascii(x: &str) -> bool {
     let x = x.as_bytes();
     let mut i = 0;
     while i < x.len() {
@@ -139,14 +140,3 @@ pub(crate) const fn bytes_is_ascii(x: &str) -> bool {
     }
     true
 }
-
-macro_rules! ascii {
-    ($x:literal) => {{
-        const _: () = {
-            ["not ascii"][!crate::utils::bytes_is_ascii($x) as usize];
-        };
-        unsafe { ascii::AsciiStr::from_ascii_unchecked($x.as_bytes()) }
-    }};
-}
-
-pub(crate) use ascii;