diff --git a/cmd/limactl/main.go b/cmd/limactl/main.go
index 5c0d3334d5f..515945391e7 100644
--- a/cmd/limactl/main.go
+++ b/cmd/limactl/main.go
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ func newApp() *cobra.Command {
 		DisableAutoGenTag: true,
 	}
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().String("log-level", "", "Set the logging level [trace, debug, info, warn, error]")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().String("log-format", "text", "Set the logging format [text, json]")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().Bool("debug", false, "debug mode")
 	// TODO: "survey" does not support using cygwin terminal on windows yet
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().Bool("tty", isatty.IsTerminal(os.Stdout.Fd()), "Enable TUI interactions such as opening an editor. Defaults to true when stdout is a terminal. Set to false for automation.")
@@ -72,6 +73,24 @@ func newApp() *cobra.Command {
 			}
 			logrus.SetLevel(lvl)
 		}
+
+		logFormat, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("log-format")
+		switch logFormat {
+		case "json":
+			formatter := new(logrus.JSONFormatter)
+			logrus.StandardLogger().SetFormatter(formatter)
+		case "text":
+			// logrus use text format by default.
+			if runtime.GOOS == "windows" && isatty.IsCygwinTerminal(os.Stderr.Fd()) {
+				formatter := new(logrus.TextFormatter)
+				// the default setting does not recognize cygwin on windows
+				formatter.ForceColors = true
+				logrus.StandardLogger().SetFormatter(formatter)
+			}
+		default:
+			return fmt.Errorf("unsupported log-format: %q", logFormat)
+		}
+
 		debug, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("debug")
 		if debug {
 			logrus.SetLevel(logrus.DebugLevel)
@@ -83,12 +102,6 @@ func newApp() *cobra.Command {
 			return errors.New("limactl is running under rosetta, please reinstall lima with native arch")
 		}
 
-		if runtime.GOOS == "windows" && isatty.IsCygwinTerminal(os.Stdout.Fd()) {
-			formatter := new(logrus.TextFormatter)
-			// the default setting does not recognize cygwin on windows
-			formatter.ForceColors = true
-			logrus.StandardLogger().SetFormatter(formatter)
-		}
 		if os.Geteuid() == 0 && cmd.Name() != "generate-doc" {
 			return errors.New("must not run as the root user")
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/progressbar/progressbar.go b/pkg/progressbar/progressbar.go
index 2b6181d42b8..79b22ae76d0 100644
--- a/pkg/progressbar/progressbar.go
+++ b/pkg/progressbar/progressbar.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/cheggaaa/pb/v3"
 	"github.com/mattn/go-isatty"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
 func New(size int64) (*pb.ProgressBar, error) {
@@ -13,11 +14,7 @@ func New(size int64) (*pb.ProgressBar, error) {
 
 	bar.Set(pb.Bytes, true)
 
-	// Both logrous and pb use stderr by default.
-	logFd := os.Stderr.Fd()
-
-	// Show progress only when logging to terminal.
-	if isatty.IsTerminal(logFd) || isatty.IsCygwinTerminal(logFd) {
+	if showProgress() {
 		bar.SetTemplateString(`{{counters . }} {{bar . | green }} {{percent .}} {{speed . "%s/s"}}`)
 		bar.SetRefreshRate(200 * time.Millisecond)
 	} else {
@@ -31,3 +28,14 @@ func New(size int64) (*pb.ProgressBar, error) {
 
 	return bar, nil
 }
+
+func showProgress() bool {
+	// Progress supports only text format fow now.
+	if _, ok := logrus.StandardLogger().Formatter.(*logrus.TextFormatter); !ok {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	// Both logrous and pb use stderr by default.
+	logFd := os.Stderr.Fd()
+	return isatty.IsTerminal(logFd) || isatty.IsCygwinTerminal(logFd)
+}