diff --git a/rdma/rdma.c b/rdma/rdma.c
index 8dc2d3e344be..60ba8c0e5594 100644
--- a/rdma/rdma.c
+++ b/rdma/rdma.c
@@ -8,6 +8,9 @@
 #include "version.h"
 #include "color.h"
 
+/* Global utils flags */
+int json;
+
 static void help(char *name)
 {
 	pr_out("Usage: %s [ OPTIONS ] OBJECT { COMMAND | help }\n"
@@ -96,7 +99,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	bool show_driver_details = false;
 	const char *batch_file = NULL;
 	bool show_details = false;
-	bool json_output = false;
 	bool show_raw = false;
 	bool force = false;
 	struct rd rd = {};
@@ -125,7 +127,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			show_raw = true;
 			break;
 		case 'j':
-			json_output = 1;
+			++json;
 			break;
 		case 'f':
 			force = true;
@@ -151,7 +153,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	rd.show_details = show_details;
 	rd.show_driver_details = show_driver_details;
-	rd.json_output = json_output;
 	rd.pretty_output = pretty;
 	rd.show_raw = show_raw;
 
diff --git a/rdma/rdma.h b/rdma/rdma.h
index 0bf77f4dcf9e..f6830c851fb1 100644
--- a/rdma/rdma.h
+++ b/rdma/rdma.h
@@ -68,7 +68,6 @@ struct rd {
 	struct nlmsghdr *nlh;
 	char *buff;
 	json_writer_t *jw;
-	int json_output;
 	int pretty_output;
 	bool suppress_errors;
 	struct list_head filter_list;
diff --git a/rdma/res.c b/rdma/res.c
index 715cf93c4fab..f64224e1f3eb 100644
--- a/rdma/res.c
+++ b/rdma/res.c
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ void print_comm(struct rd *rd, const char *str, struct nlattr **nla_line)
 	if (!str)
 		return;
 
-	if (nla_line[RDMA_NLDEV_ATTR_RES_PID] || rd->json_output)
+	if (nla_line[RDMA_NLDEV_ATTR_RES_PID] || is_json_context())
 		snprintf(tmp, sizeof(tmp), "%s", str);
 	else
 		snprintf(tmp, sizeof(tmp), "[%s]", str);
@@ -187,8 +187,7 @@ void print_link(struct rd *rd, uint32_t idx, const char *name, uint32_t port,
 		snprintf(tmp, sizeof(tmp), "%s/-", name);
 	}
 
-	if (!rd->json_output)
-		print_string(PRINT_ANY, NULL, "link %s ", tmp);
+	print_string(PRINT_FP, NULL, "link %s ", tmp);
 }
 
 void print_qp_type(struct rd *rd, uint32_t val)
diff --git a/rdma/stat.c b/rdma/stat.c
index 28b1ad857219..6a3f8ca44892 100644
--- a/rdma/stat.c
+++ b/rdma/stat.c
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ int res_get_hwcounters(struct rd *rd, struct nlattr *hwc_table, bool print)
 
 		nm = mnl_attr_get_str(hw_line[RDMA_NLDEV_ATTR_STAT_HWCOUNTER_ENTRY_NAME]);
 		v = mnl_attr_get_u64(hw_line[RDMA_NLDEV_ATTR_STAT_HWCOUNTER_ENTRY_VALUE]);
-		if (rd->pretty_output && !rd->json_output)
+		if (rd->pretty_output)
 			newline_indent(rd);
 		res_print_u64(rd, nm, v, hw_line[RDMA_NLDEV_ATTR_STAT_HWCOUNTER_ENTRY_NAME]);
 	}
@@ -802,7 +802,7 @@ static int do_stat_mode_parse_cb(const struct nlmsghdr *nlh, void *data,
 			} else {
 				print_string(PRINT_FP, NULL, ",", NULL);
 			}
-			if (rd->pretty_output && !rd->json_output)
+			if (rd->pretty_output)
 				newline_indent(rd);
 
 			print_string(PRINT_ANY, NULL, "%s", name);
diff --git a/rdma/utils.c b/rdma/utils.c
index f73a9f19b617..32e12a64193a 100644
--- a/rdma/utils.c
+++ b/rdma/utils.c
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ int rd_exec_link(struct rd *rd, int (*cb)(struct rd *rd), bool strict_port)
 	uint32_t port;
 	int ret = 0;
 
-	new_json_obj(rd->json_output);
+	new_json_obj(json);
 	if (rd_no_arg(rd)) {
 		list_for_each_entry(dev_map, &rd->dev_map_list, list) {
 			rd->dev_idx = dev_map->idx;
@@ -621,7 +621,7 @@ int rd_exec_dev(struct rd *rd, int (*cb)(struct rd *rd))
 	struct dev_map *dev_map;
 	int ret = 0;
 
-	new_json_obj(rd->json_output);
+	new_json_obj(json);
 	if (rd_no_arg(rd)) {
 		list_for_each_entry(dev_map, &rd->dev_map_list, list) {
 			rd->dev_idx = dev_map->idx;
@@ -794,7 +794,7 @@ static int print_driver_string(struct rd *rd, const char *key_str,
 static int print_driver_s32(struct rd *rd, const char *key_str, int32_t val,
 			      enum rdma_nldev_print_type print_type)
 {
-	if (!rd->json_output) {
+	if (!is_json_context()) {
 		switch (print_type) {
 		case RDMA_NLDEV_PRINT_TYPE_UNSPEC:
 			return pr_out("%s %d ", key_str, val);
@@ -811,7 +811,7 @@ static int print_driver_s32(struct rd *rd, const char *key_str, int32_t val,
 static int print_driver_u32(struct rd *rd, const char *key_str, uint32_t val,
 			      enum rdma_nldev_print_type print_type)
 {
-	if (!rd->json_output) {
+	if (!is_json_context()) {
 		switch (print_type) {
 		case RDMA_NLDEV_PRINT_TYPE_UNSPEC:
 			return pr_out("%s %u ", key_str, val);
@@ -828,7 +828,7 @@ static int print_driver_u32(struct rd *rd, const char *key_str, uint32_t val,
 static int print_driver_s64(struct rd *rd, const char *key_str, int64_t val,
 			      enum rdma_nldev_print_type print_type)
 {
-	if (!rd->json_output) {
+	if (!is_json_context()) {
 		switch (print_type) {
 		case RDMA_NLDEV_PRINT_TYPE_UNSPEC:
 			return pr_out("%s %" PRId64 " ", key_str, val);
@@ -845,7 +845,7 @@ static int print_driver_s64(struct rd *rd, const char *key_str, int64_t val,
 static int print_driver_u64(struct rd *rd, const char *key_str, uint64_t val,
 			      enum rdma_nldev_print_type print_type)
 {
-	if (!rd->json_output) {
+	if (!is_json_context()) {
 		switch (print_type) {
 		case RDMA_NLDEV_PRINT_TYPE_UNSPEC:
 			return pr_out("%s %" PRIu64 " ", key_str, val);
