diff --git a/spec/core/PrettyPrintSpec.js b/spec/core/PrettyPrintSpec.js
index becf8a61..14d0d3e0 100644
--- a/spec/core/PrettyPrintSpec.js
+++ b/spec/core/PrettyPrintSpec.js
@@ -32,6 +32,36 @@ describe("jasmine.pp", function () {
     }, bar: [1, 2, 3]})).toEqual("{ foo : Function, bar : [ 1, 2, 3 ] }");
   });
 
+  it("should not include inherited properties when stringifying an object", function() {
+    var SomeClass = function() {};
+    SomeClass.prototype.foo = "inherited foo";
+    var instance = new SomeClass();
+    instance.bar = "my own bar";
+    expect(jasmine.pp(instance)).toEqual("{ bar : 'my own bar' }");
+  });
+
+  it("should not recurse objects and arrays more deeply than jasmine.MAX_PRETTY_PRINT_DEPTH", function() {
+    var originalMaxDepth = jasmine.MAX_PRETTY_PRINT_DEPTH;
+    var nestedObject = { level1: { level2: { level3: { level4: "leaf" } } } };
+    var nestedArray  = [1, [2, [3, [4, "leaf"]]]];
+
+    try {
+      jasmine.MAX_PRETTY_PRINT_DEPTH = 2;
+      expect(jasmine.pp(nestedObject)).toEqual("{ level1 : { level2 : Object } }");
+      expect(jasmine.pp(nestedArray)).toEqual("[ 1, [ 2, Array ] ]");
+
+      jasmine.MAX_PRETTY_PRINT_DEPTH = 3;
+      expect(jasmine.pp(nestedObject)).toEqual("{ level1 : { level2 : { level3 : Object } } }");
+      expect(jasmine.pp(nestedArray)).toEqual("[ 1, [ 2, [ 3, Array ] ] ]");
+
+      jasmine.MAX_PRETTY_PRINT_DEPTH = 4;
+      expect(jasmine.pp(nestedObject)).toEqual("{ level1 : { level2 : { level3 : { level4 : 'leaf' } } } }");
+      expect(jasmine.pp(nestedArray)).toEqual("[ 1, [ 2, [ 3, [ 4, 'leaf' ] ] ] ]");
+    } finally {
+      jasmine.MAX_PRETTY_PRINT_DEPTH = originalMaxDepth;
+    }
+  });
+
   it("should stringify RegExp objects properly", function() {
     expect(jasmine.pp(/x|y|z/)).toEqual("/x|y|z/");
   });
diff --git a/src/core/PrettyPrinter.js b/src/core/PrettyPrinter.js
index a7d283b6..f276cea3 100644
--- a/src/core/PrettyPrinter.js
+++ b/src/core/PrettyPrinter.js
@@ -11,10 +11,6 @@ jasmine.PrettyPrinter = function() {
  * @param value
  */
 jasmine.PrettyPrinter.prototype.format = function(value) {
-  if (this.ppNestLevel_ > 40) {
-    throw new Error('jasmine.PrettyPrinter: format() nested too deeply!');
-  }
-
   this.ppNestLevel_++;
   try {
     if (value === jasmine.undefined) {
@@ -57,6 +53,7 @@ jasmine.PrettyPrinter.prototype.format = function(value) {
 
 jasmine.PrettyPrinter.prototype.iterateObject = function(obj, fn) {
   for (var property in obj) {
+    if (!obj.hasOwnProperty(property)) continue;
     if (property == '__Jasmine_been_here_before__') continue;
     fn(property, obj.__lookupGetter__ ? (obj.__lookupGetter__(property) !== jasmine.undefined && 
                                          obj.__lookupGetter__(property) !== null) : false);
@@ -84,6 +81,11 @@ jasmine.StringPrettyPrinter.prototype.emitString = function(value) {
 };
 
 jasmine.StringPrettyPrinter.prototype.emitArray = function(array) {
+  if (this.ppNestLevel_ > jasmine.MAX_PRETTY_PRINT_DEPTH) {
+    this.append("Array");
+    return;
+  }
+
   this.append('[ ');
   for (var i = 0; i < array.length; i++) {
     if (i > 0) {
@@ -95,6 +97,11 @@ jasmine.StringPrettyPrinter.prototype.emitArray = function(array) {
 };
 
 jasmine.StringPrettyPrinter.prototype.emitObject = function(obj) {
+  if (this.ppNestLevel_ > jasmine.MAX_PRETTY_PRINT_DEPTH) {
+    this.append("Object");
+    return;
+  }
+
   var self = this;
   this.append('{ ');
   var first = true;
diff --git a/src/core/base.js b/src/core/base.js
index 51761ba2..af8d3ea0 100644
--- a/src/core/base.js
+++ b/src/core/base.js
@@ -34,6 +34,11 @@ jasmine.VERBOSE = false;
  */
 jasmine.DEFAULT_UPDATE_INTERVAL = 250;
 
+/**
+ * Maximum levels of nesting that will be included when an object is pretty-printed
+ */
+jasmine.MAX_PRETTY_PRINT_DEPTH = 40;
+
 /**
  * Default timeout interval in milliseconds for waitsFor() blocks.
  */