diff --git a/include/json_print.h b/include/json_print.h
index 2ca7830a..45a817ce 100644
--- a/include/json_print.h
+++ b/include/json_print.h
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 #include "json_writer.h"
 #include "color.h"
 
+extern int show_pretty;
+
 json_writer_t *get_json_writer(void);
 
 /*
diff --git a/ip/ip.c b/ip/ip.c
index b15e6b66..a6611292 100644
--- a/ip/ip.c
+++ b/ip/ip.c
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ int show_stats;
 int show_details;
 int oneline;
 int brief;
+int show_pretty;
 int json;
 int timestamp;
 const char *_SL_;
@@ -259,6 +260,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			++brief;
 		} else if (matches(opt, "-json") == 0) {
 			++json;
+		} else if (matches(opt, "-pretty") == 0) {
+			++show_pretty;
 		} else if (matches(opt, "-rcvbuf") == 0) {
 			unsigned int size;
 
diff --git a/lib/json_print.c b/lib/json_print.c
index 6518ba98..e3da1bdf 100644
--- a/lib/json_print.c
+++ b/lib/json_print.c
@@ -28,7 +28,8 @@ void new_json_obj(int json)
 			perror("json object");
 			exit(1);
 		}
-		jsonw_pretty(_jw, true);
+		if (show_pretty)
+			jsonw_pretty(_jw, true);
 		jsonw_start_array(_jw);
 	}
 }
diff --git a/tc/tc.c b/tc/tc.c
index 63e64fec..aba5c101 100644
--- a/tc/tc.c
+++ b/tc/tc.c
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ int use_iec;
 int force;
 bool use_names;
 int json;
+int pretty;
 
 static char *conf_file;
 
@@ -484,6 +485,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			++timestamp_short;
 		} else if (matches(argv[1], "-json") == 0) {
 			++json;
+		} else if (matches(argv[1], "-pretty") == 0) {
+			++pretty;
 		} else {
 			fprintf(stderr, "Option \"%s\" is unknown, try \"tc -help\".\n", argv[1]);
 			return -1;