diff --git a/lib/pagy/extras/items.rb b/lib/pagy/extras/items.rb
index 58e9a4b81..553efbeb9 100644
--- a/lib/pagy/extras/items.rb
+++ b/lib/pagy/extras/items.rb
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ class Pagy
   VARS[:items_param] = :items
   VARS[:max_items]   = 100
 
+  ITEMS_PLACEHOLDER = '__pagy_items__'
+
   # Handle a custom number of :items from params
   module Backend ; private
 
@@ -49,7 +51,7 @@ def pagy_url_for_with_items(page, pagy, url=false)
     def pagy_items_selector_js(pagy, id=pagy_id)
       p_vars         = pagy.vars
       p_items        = p_vars[:items]
-      p_vars[:items] = '__pagy_items__'
+      p_vars[:items] = ITEMS_PLACEHOLDER
       link           = pagy_marked_link(pagy_link_proc(pagy))
       p_vars[:items] = p_items # restore the items