diff --git a/lib/chai/core/assertions.js b/lib/chai/core/assertions.js
index c88a758d..7dfd4fb1 100644
--- a/lib/chai/core/assertions.js
+++ b/lib/chai/core/assertions.js
@@ -3933,7 +3933,14 @@ Assertion.addProperty('finite', function(msg) {
   )
 });
 
-function compare(expected, actual) {
+/**
+ * A subset-aware compare function
+ *
+ * @param {unknown} expected
+ * @param {unknown} actual
+ * @returns {void}
+ */
+function compareSubset(expected, actual) {
   if (expected === actual) {
     return true;
   }
@@ -3954,7 +3961,7 @@ function compare(expected, actual) {
     var aa = Array.prototype.slice.call(actual);
     return expected.every(function (exp) {
       return aa.some(function (act) {
-        return compare(exp, act);
+        return compareSubset(exp, act);
       });
     });
   }
@@ -3971,7 +3978,7 @@ function compare(expected, actual) {
     var eo = expected[key];
     var ao = actual[key];
     if (typeof eo === 'object' && eo !== null && ao !== null) {
-      return compare(eo, ao);
+      return compareSubset(eo, ao);
     }
     if (typeof eo === 'function') {
       return eo(ao);
@@ -3985,7 +3992,7 @@ Assertion.addMethod('containSubset', function (expected) {
   const showDiff = config.showDiff;
 
   this.assert(
-    compare(expected, actual),
+    compareSubset(expected, actual),
     'expected #{act} to contain subset #{exp}',
     'expected #{act} to not contain subset #{exp}',
     expected,