diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtension.php b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtension.php
index b390f2978113b..649e43c4ce4d1 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtension.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtension.php
@@ -1402,7 +1402,9 @@ private function registerSerializerConfiguration(array $config, ContainerBuilder
         }
 
         if ($config['max_depth_handler'] ?? false) {
-            $container->getDefinition('serializer.normalizer.object')->addMethodCall('setMaxDepthHandler', [new Reference($config['max_depth_handler'])]);
+            $arguments = $container->getDefinition('serializer.normalizer.object')->getArguments();
+            $context = ($arguments[6] ?? []) + ['max_depth_handler' => new Reference($config['max_depth_handler'])];
+            $container->getDefinition('serializer.normalizer.object')->setArgument(6, $context);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtensionTest.php b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtensionTest.php
index 862786c9b8b80..465415f3db49a 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtensionTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bundle/FrameworkBundle/Tests/DependencyInjection/FrameworkExtensionTest.php
@@ -1067,7 +1067,8 @@ public function testSerializerEnabled()
         $this->assertEquals(new Reference('serializer.name_converter.camel_case_to_snake_case'), $container->getDefinition('serializer.name_converter.metadata_aware')->getArgument(1));
         $this->assertEquals(new Reference('property_info', ContainerBuilder::IGNORE_ON_INVALID_REFERENCE), $container->getDefinition('serializer.normalizer.object')->getArgument(3));
         $this->assertEquals(['setCircularReferenceHandler', [new Reference('my.circular.reference.handler')]], $container->getDefinition('serializer.normalizer.object')->getMethodCalls()[0]);
-        $this->assertEquals(['setMaxDepthHandler', [new Reference('my.max.depth.handler')]], $container->getDefinition('serializer.normalizer.object')->getMethodCalls()[1]);
+        $this->assertArrayHasKey('max_depth_handler', $container->getDefinition('serializer.normalizer.object')->getArgument(6));
+        $this->assertEquals($container->getDefinition('serializer.normalizer.object')->getArgument(6)['max_depth_handler'], new Reference('my.max.depth.handler'));
     }
 
     public function testRegisterSerializerExtractor()
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Serializer/Normalizer/AbstractNormalizer.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Serializer/Normalizer/AbstractNormalizer.php
index 79e18b7fc3e70..cb816219692fe 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Serializer/Normalizer/AbstractNormalizer.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Serializer/Normalizer/AbstractNormalizer.php
@@ -97,7 +97,6 @@ public function __construct(ClassMetadataFactoryInterface $classMetadataFactory
     {
         $this->classMetadataFactory = $classMetadataFactory;
         $this->nameConverter = $nameConverter;
-        $this->defaultContext = array_merge($this->defaultContext, $defaultContext);
 
         if (isset($this->defaultContext[self::CALLBACKS])) {
             if (!\is_array($this->defaultContext[self::CALLBACKS])) {
@@ -110,6 +109,12 @@ public function __construct(ClassMetadataFactoryInterface $classMetadataFactory
                 }
             }
         }
+
+        if (isset($this->defaultContext[self::CIRCULAR_REFERENCE_HANDLER]) && !\is_callable($this->defaultContext[self::CIRCULAR_REFERENCE_HANDLER])) {
+            throw new InvalidArgumentException(sprintf('Invalid callback found in the "%s" default context option.', self::CIRCULAR_REFERENCE_HANDLER));
+        }
+
+        $this->defaultContext = array_merge($this->defaultContext, $defaultContext);
     }
 
     /**