diff --git a/include/nlohmann/detail/view/iterator.hpp b/include/nlohmann/detail/view/iterator.hpp
index 12906e9c1..069f50fd1 100644
--- a/include/nlohmann/detail/view/iterator.hpp
+++ b/include/nlohmann/detail/view/iterator.hpp
@@ -147,20 +147,21 @@ class view_item
 
     view_item(const iterator& it, std::size_t index)
         : m_it(it)
-    {
-        if (!it.is_object_iterator())
-        {
-            m_index = std::to_string(index);
-        }
-    }
+        , m_position(index)
+    {}
 
-    /// the member key, or the element index for arrays
+    /// the member key, or the element index for arrays (as text made on the
+    /// first call, so that iterating over the values pays nothing for it)
     string_view_t key() const
     {
         if (m_it.is_object_iterator())
         {
             return m_it.key();
         }
+        if (m_index.empty())
+        {
+            m_index = std::to_string(m_position);
+        }
         return string_view_t(m_index.data(), m_index.size());
     }
 
@@ -183,7 +184,8 @@ class view_item
 
   private:
     iterator m_it;
-    std::string m_index{}; // NOLINT(readability-redundant-member-init)
+    std::size_t m_position; ///< the index of an array element
+    mutable std::string m_index{}; ///< the text of m_position, once key() was called // NOLINT(readability-redundant-member-init)
 };
 
 /// the range returned by basic_json_view::items()
diff --git a/single_include/nlohmann/json_view.hpp b/single_include/nlohmann/json_view.hpp
index 0207ba7e2..0b2365a00 100644
--- a/single_include/nlohmann/json_view.hpp
+++ b/single_include/nlohmann/json_view.hpp
@@ -5646,20 +5646,21 @@ class view_item
 
     view_item(const iterator& it, std::size_t index)
         : m_it(it)
-    {
-        if (!it.is_object_iterator())
-        {
-            m_index = std::to_string(index);
-        }
-    }
+        , m_position(index)
+    {}
 
-    /// the member key, or the element index for arrays
+    /// the member key, or the element index for arrays (as text made on the
+    /// first call, so that iterating over the values pays nothing for it)
     string_view_t key() const
     {
         if (m_it.is_object_iterator())
         {
             return m_it.key();
         }
+        if (m_index.empty())
+        {
+            m_index = std::to_string(m_position);
+        }
         return string_view_t(m_index.data(), m_index.size());
     }
 
@@ -5682,7 +5683,8 @@ class view_item
 
   private:
     iterator m_it;
-    std::string m_index{}; // NOLINT(readability-redundant-member-init)
+    std::size_t m_position; ///< the index of an array element
+    mutable std::string m_index{}; ///< the text of m_position, once key() was called // NOLINT(readability-redundant-member-init)
 };
 
 /// the range returned by basic_json_view::items()
diff --git a/tests/src/unit-json_view.cpp b/tests/src/unit-json_view.cpp
index b7e3ee374..c873e3f55 100644
--- a/tests/src/unit-json_view.cpp
+++ b/tests/src/unit-json_view.cpp
@@ -1113,6 +1113,28 @@ TEST_CASE("json_view element access and iteration")
         CHECK((*first++).key() == "0");
         CHECK((*first).key() == "1");
         CHECK(++first == items.end());
+
+        // the keys of array elements are their indexes, whether or not they are asked for
+        std::string numbers = "[0";
+        for (int i = 1; i < 1234; ++i)
+        {
+            numbers += "," + std::to_string(i);
+        }
+        const json_document array = json_document::parse(numbers + "]");
+        std::size_t position = 0;
+        for (const auto& item : array.root().items())
+        {
+            CHECK(item.value().get<std::size_t>() == position);
+            if (position % 3 != 0) // (not for every item: values alone do not make the key)
+            {
+                CHECK(item.key() == std::to_string(position));
+                CHECK(item.key().data() == item.key().data()); // (the same text every time)
+                const json_view::item copy = item;
+                CHECK(copy.key() == std::to_string(position));
+            }
+            ++position;
+        }
+        CHECK(position == 1234);
 #ifdef JSON_HAS_CPP_17
         std::string pairs;
         for (const auto [key, value] : d.root().items())