diff --git a/lib/liquid/block_body.rb b/lib/liquid/block_body.rb
index c9dbfbd..18b3062 100644
--- a/lib/liquid/block_body.rb
+++ b/lib/liquid/block_body.rb
@@ -155,12 +155,10 @@ module Liquid
     end
 
     def render_to_output_buffer(context, output)
-      context.resource_limits.render_score += @nodelist.length
+      context.resource_limits.increment_render_score(@nodelist.length)
 
       idx = 0
       while (node = @nodelist[idx])
-        previous_output_size = output.bytesize
-
         if node.instance_of?(String)
           output << node
         else
@@ -172,7 +170,7 @@ module Liquid
         end
         idx += 1
 
-        raise_if_resource_limits_reached(context, output.bytesize - previous_output_size)
+        context.resource_limits.increment_write_score(output)
       end
 
       output
@@ -184,17 +182,13 @@ module Liquid
       node.render_to_output_buffer(context, output)
     rescue UndefinedVariable, UndefinedDropMethod, UndefinedFilter => e
       context.handle_error(e, node.line_number)
+    rescue MemoryError
+      raise
     rescue ::StandardError => e
       line_number = node.is_a?(String) ? nil : node.line_number
       output << context.handle_error(e, line_number)
     end
 
-    def raise_if_resource_limits_reached(context, length)
-      context.resource_limits.render_length += length
-      return unless context.resource_limits.reached?
-      raise MemoryError, "Memory limits exceeded"
-    end
-
     def create_variable(token, parse_context)
       token.scan(ContentOfVariable) do |content|
         markup = content.first
diff --git a/lib/liquid/resource_limits.rb b/lib/liquid/resource_limits.rb
index 9c898f0..70fac24 100644
--- a/lib/liquid/resource_limits.rb
+++ b/lib/liquid/resource_limits.rb
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 
 module Liquid
   class ResourceLimits
-    attr_accessor :render_length, :render_score, :assign_score,
-      :render_length_limit, :render_score_limit, :assign_score_limit
+    attr_accessor :render_length_limit, :render_score_limit, :assign_score_limit
+    attr_reader :render_score, :assign_score
 
     def initialize(limits)
       @render_length_limit = limits[:render_length_limit]
@@ -12,14 +12,51 @@ module Liquid
       reset
     end
 
+    def increment_render_score(amount)
+      @render_score += amount
+      raise_limits_reached if @render_score_limit && @render_score > @render_score_limit
+    end
+
+    def increment_assign_score(amount)
+      @assign_score += amount
+      raise_limits_reached if @assign_score_limit && @assign_score > @assign_score_limit
+    end
+
+    # update either render_length or assign_score based on whether or not the writes are captured
+    def increment_write_score(output)
+      if (last_captured = @last_capture_length)
+        captured = output.bytesize
+        increment = captured - last_captured
+        @last_capture_length = captured
+        increment_assign_score(increment)
+      elsif @render_length_limit && output.bytesize > @render_length_limit
+        raise_limits_reached
+      end
+    end
+
+    def raise_limits_reached
+      @reached_limit = true
+      raise MemoryError, "Memory limits exceeded"
+    end
+
     def reached?
-      (@render_length_limit && @render_length > @render_length_limit) ||
-        (@render_score_limit && @render_score > @render_score_limit) ||
-        (@assign_score_limit && @assign_score > @assign_score_limit)
+      @reached_limit
     end
 
     def reset
-      @render_length = @render_score = @assign_score = 0
+      @reached_limit = false
+      @last_capture_length = nil
+      @render_score = @assign_score = 0
+    end
+
+    def with_capture
+      old_capture_length = @last_capture_length
+      begin
+        @last_capture_length = 0
+        yield
+      ensure
+        @last_capture_length = old_capture_length
+      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/liquid/tags/assign.rb b/lib/liquid/tags/assign.rb
index 3a3f683..404b005 100644
--- a/lib/liquid/tags/assign.rb
+++ b/lib/liquid/tags/assign.rb
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ module Liquid
     def render_to_output_buffer(context, output)
       val = @from.render(context)
       context.scopes.last[@to] = val
-      context.resource_limits.assign_score += assign_score_of(val)
+      context.resource_limits.increment_assign_score(assign_score_of(val))
       output
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/liquid/tags/capture.rb b/lib/liquid/tags/capture.rb
index 425032d..3eb63bb 100644
--- a/lib/liquid/tags/capture.rb
+++ b/lib/liquid/tags/capture.rb
@@ -25,9 +25,10 @@ module Liquid
     end
 
     def render_to_output_buffer(context, output)
-      capture_output = render(context)
-      context.scopes.last[@to] = capture_output
-      context.resource_limits.assign_score += capture_output.bytesize
+      context.resource_limits.with_capture do
+        capture_output = render(context)
+        context.scopes.last[@to] = capture_output
+      end
       output
     end
 
diff --git a/test/integration/template_test.rb b/test/integration/template_test.rb
index 1c12ff6..246c645 100644
--- a/test/integration/template_test.rb
+++ b/test/integration/template_test.rb
@@ -111,13 +111,12 @@ class TemplateTest < Minitest::Test
 
   def test_resource_limits_render_length
     t = Template.parse("0123456789")
-    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 5
+    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 9
     assert_equal("Liquid error: Memory limits exceeded", t.render)
     assert(t.resource_limits.reached?)
 
     t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 10
     assert_equal("0123456789", t.render!)
-    refute_nil(t.resource_limits.render_length)
   end
 
   def test_resource_limits_render_score
@@ -180,36 +179,33 @@ class TemplateTest < Minitest::Test
     t.render!
     assert(t.resource_limits.assign_score > 0)
     assert(t.resource_limits.render_score > 0)
-    assert(t.resource_limits.render_length > 0)
   end
 
   def test_render_length_persists_between_blocks
     t = Template.parse("{% if true %}aaaa{% endif %}")
-    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 7
+    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 3
     assert_equal("Liquid error: Memory limits exceeded", t.render)
-    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 8
+    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 4
     assert_equal("aaaa", t.render)
 
     t = Template.parse("{% if true %}aaaa{% endif %}{% if true %}bbb{% endif %}")
-    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 13
+    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 6
     assert_equal("Liquid error: Memory limits exceeded", t.render)
-    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 14
+    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 7
     assert_equal("aaaabbb", t.render)
 
     t = Template.parse("{% if true %}a{% endif %}{% if true %}b{% endif %}{% if true %}a{% endif %}{% if true %}b{% endif %}{% if true %}a{% endif %}{% if true %}b{% endif %}")
     t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 5
     assert_equal("Liquid error: Memory limits exceeded", t.render)
-    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 11
-    assert_equal("Liquid error: Memory limits exceeded", t.render)
-    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 12
+    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 6
     assert_equal("ababab", t.render)
   end
 
   def test_render_length_uses_number_of_bytes_not_characters
     t = Template.parse("{% if true %}すごい{% endif %}")
-    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 10
+    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 8
     assert_equal("Liquid error: Memory limits exceeded", t.render)
-    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 18
+    t.resource_limits.render_length_limit = 9
     assert_equal("すごい", t.render)
   end
 
@@ -219,7 +215,6 @@ class TemplateTest < Minitest::Test
     t.render!(context)
     assert(context.resource_limits.assign_score > 0)
     assert(context.resource_limits.render_score > 0)
-    assert(context.resource_limits.render_length > 0)
   end
 
   def test_can_use_drop_as_context