A near-eye display assembly includes an electronic display for providing image light, a circular polarizer disposed downstream of the electronic display for circularly polarizing the image light, and a pancake lens disposed downstream of the circular polarizer for conveying the image light to an eyebox of the near-eye display. The circular polarizer includes a quarter-wave waveplate disposed between the electronic display and the pancake lens, and spaced apart from the electronic display and the pancake lens, to additionally defocus ghost image artifacts at the eyebox.