diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index dde27af..e066a4c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,9 +2,15 @@
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](http://keepachangelog.com/).
 
+## [8.1] - 2024-07-03
+### Changed
+- `JSONTypeException`, `ParseException`, `pom.xml`: switched to use `kjson-exception`
+### Removed
+- `JSONException`
+
 ## [8.0] - 2024-07-01
 ### Changed
-- `pom.xml`, `deploy.yml`: tidied up following conversion to GitHub Actions
+- `build.xml`, `deploy.yml`: tidied up following conversion to GitHub Actions
 - `pom.xml`: updated Kotlin version to 1.9.24
 - `JSONInt`, `JSONLong`, `JSONDecimal`: modify for deprecation in Kotlin 1.9.x
   (These would not normally be breaking changes, but the major version should have been updated for version 7.4 because
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index a7a23a9..eccba60 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -287,6 +287,10 @@ The exception also includes a property `key` (of type `Any?`) which is used to p
 the error, for example a [`JSONPointer`](https://github.com/pwall567/kjson-pointer) or a property name.
 When the key is provided, it will be appended to the message, as "`, at {key}`".
 
+Starting from version 8.1 of this library, `JSONException` has been extracted to a separate library –
+[`kjson-exception`](https://github.com/pwall567/kjson-exception) – so that it may be included in other projects
+independent from this library
+
 ### `JSONTypeException`
 
 A common error case arises when a `JSONValue` is found to be of the wrong type, for example, when a `JSONArray` is
@@ -653,25 +657,25 @@ The diagram was produced by [Dia](https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Dia/); the diagram
 
 ## Dependency Specification
 
-The latest version of the library is 8.0, and it may be obtained from the Maven Central repository.
+The latest version of the library is 8.1, and it may be obtained from the Maven Central repository.
 
 ### Maven
 ```xml
     <dependency>
       <groupId>io.kjson</groupId>
       <artifactId>kjson-core</artifactId>
-      <version>8.0</version>
+      <version>8.1</version>
     </dependency>
 ```
 ### Gradle
 ```groovy
-    implementation "io.kjson:kjson-core:8.0"
+    implementation "io.kjson:kjson-core:8.1"
 ```
 ### Gradle (kts)
 ```kotlin
-    implementation("io.kjson:kjson-core:8.0")
+    implementation("io.kjson:kjson-core:8.1")
 ```
 
 Peter Wall
 
-2024-07-01
+2024-07-03
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 89e520b..060e41a 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
   <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
 
   <artifactId>kjson-core</artifactId>
-  <version>8.0</version>
+  <version>8.1</version>
   <name>JSON Kotlin core functionality</name>
   <description>JSON Kotlin core functionality</description>
   <packaging>jar</packaging>
@@ -60,6 +60,11 @@
   </pluginRepositories>
 
   <dependencies>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>io.kjson</groupId>
+      <artifactId>kjson-exception</artifactId>
+      <version>1.1</version>
+    </dependency>
     <dependency>
       <groupId>net.pwall.json</groupId>
       <artifactId>json-functions</artifactId>
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/JSONException.kt b/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/JSONException.kt
deleted file mode 100644
index 3dd2fd6..0000000
--- a/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/JSONException.kt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,50 +0,0 @@
-/*
- * @(#) JSONException.kt
- *
- * kjson-core  JSON Kotlin core functionality
- * Copyright (c) 2021, 2023, 2024 Peter Wall
- *
- * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
- * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
- * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
- * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
- * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
- * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
- *
- * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
- * copies or substantial portions of the Software.
- *
- * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
- * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
- * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
- * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
- * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
- * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
- * SOFTWARE.
- */
-
-package io.kjson
-
-/**
- * A base exception class for JSON errors.
- *
- * @author  Peter Wall
- */
-open class JSONException(message: String, key: Any? = null): RuntimeException(extendMessage(message, key)) {
-
-    override val message: String
-        get() = super.message!! // message will always be non-null
-
-    companion object {
-
-        fun extendMessage(message: String, key: Any?): String {
-            key?.toString()?.let {
-                if (it.isNotEmpty())
-                    return "$message, at $it"
-            }
-            return message
-        }
-
-    }
-
-}
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/JSONTypeException.kt b/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/JSONTypeException.kt
index d7a6f9b..768a6d3 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/JSONTypeException.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/JSONTypeException.kt
@@ -37,5 +37,5 @@ class JSONTypeException(
     val nodeName: String = "Node",
     val target: String,
     val value: JSONValue?,
-    val key: Any? = null,
+    key: Any? = null,
 ) : JSONException("$nodeName not correct type ($target), was ${value.displayValue()}", key)
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/parser/ParseException.kt b/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/parser/ParseException.kt
index 0017f3c..da104ba 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/parser/ParseException.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/parser/ParseException.kt
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
  * @(#) ParseException.kt
  *
  * kjson-core  JSON Kotlin core functionality
- * Copyright (c) 2021 Peter Wall
+ * Copyright (c) 2021, 2024 Peter Wall
  *
  * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
  * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
@@ -33,4 +33,12 @@ import io.kjson.parser.ParserConstants.rootPointer
  *
  * @author  Peter Wall
  */
-class ParseException(val text: String, val pointer: String = rootPointer) : JSONException(text, pointer)
+class ParseException(
+    text: String,
+    override val key: String = rootPointer,
+) : JSONException(text, key) {
+
+    val pointer: String
+        get() = key
+
+}
diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/parser/ParserConstants.kt b/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/parser/ParserConstants.kt
index 9c75533..986833f 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/parser/ParserConstants.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/io/kjson/parser/ParserConstants.kt
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import io.kjson.util.LookupSet
 @Suppress("unused")
 object ParserConstants {
 
+    @Suppress("ConstPropertyName")
     const val rootPointer = ""
     const val BOM = '\uFEFF'
     const val MAX_INTEGER_DIGITS_LENGTH = 10