diff --git a/nimbus/vm_state.nim b/nimbus/vm_state.nim
index 376873c92..7fed8e753 100644
--- a/nimbus/vm_state.nim
+++ b/nimbus/vm_state.nim
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import
   vm/interpreter/[vm_forks, gas_costs],
   ./constants, ./db/[db_chain, accounts_cache],
   ./utils, json, vm_types, vm/transaction_tracer,
-  ./config
+  ./config, ../stateless/[multi_keys, witness_from_tree, witness_types]
 
 proc newAccessLogs*: AccessLogs =
   AccessLogs(reads: initTable[string, string](), writes: initTable[string, string]())
@@ -149,3 +149,12 @@ proc generateWitness*(vmState: BaseVMState): bool {.inline.} =
 proc `generateWitness=`*(vmState: BaseVMState, status: bool) =
  if status: vmState.flags.incl GenerateWitness
  else: vmState.flags.excl GenerateWitness
+
+proc buildWitness*(vmState: BaseVMState): seq[byte] =
+  let rootHash = vmState.accountDb.rootHash
+  let mkeys = vmState.accountDb.makeMultiKeys()
+  let flags = if vmState.fork >= FKSpurious: {wfEIP170} else: {}
+
+  # build witness from tree
+  var wb = initWitnessBuilder(vmState.chainDB.db, rootHash, flags)
+  result = wb.buildWitness(mkeys)
diff --git a/tests/test_blockchain_json.nim b/tests/test_blockchain_json.nim
index 599cfa6b6..4c3ff6e43 100644
--- a/tests/test_blockchain_json.nim
+++ b/tests/test_blockchain_json.nim
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import
   ../nimbus/utils/header,
   ../nimbus/p2p/[executor, dao],
   ../nimbus/config,
-  ../stateless/[multi_keys, tree_from_witness, witness_from_tree, witness_types]
+  ../stateless/[tree_from_witness, witness_types]
 
 type
   SealEngine = enum
@@ -283,13 +283,9 @@ proc parseTester(fixture: JsonNode, testStatusIMPL: var TestStatus): Tester =
 
 proc blockWitness(vmState: BaseVMState, fork: Fork, chainDB: BaseChainDB) =
   let rootHash = vmState.accountDb.rootHash
-  let mkeys = vmState.accountDb.makeMultiKeys()
+  let witness = vmState.buildWitness()
   let flags = if fork >= FKSpurious: {wfEIP170} else: {}
 
-  # build witness from tree
-  var wb = initWitnessBuilder(chainDB.db, rootHash, flags)
-  let witness = wb.buildWitness(mkeys)
-
   # build tree from witness
   var db = newMemoryDB()
   when defined(useInputStream):