diff --git a/cmd/utils.go b/cmd/utils.go
index 69aeec18..ab3b1a12 100644
--- a/cmd/utils.go
+++ b/cmd/utils.go
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ func configurePrinterWriter(format yqlib.PrinterOutputFormat, out io.Writer) (yq
 func configureEncoder(format yqlib.PrinterOutputFormat) yqlib.Encoder {
 	switch format {
 	case yqlib.JSONOutputFormat:
-		return yqlib.NewJONEncoder(indent)
+		return yqlib.NewJONEncoder(indent, colorsEnabled)
 	case yqlib.PropsOutputFormat:
 		return yqlib.NewPropertiesEncoder()
 	case yqlib.CSVOutputFormat:
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/encoder_json.go b/pkg/yqlib/encoder_json.go
index e76a0180..8d2660a3 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/encoder_json.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/encoder_json.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package yqlib
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"io"
 
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 
 type jsonEncoder struct {
 	indentString string
+	colorise     bool
 }
 
 func mapKeysToStrings(node *yaml.Node) {
@@ -26,14 +28,14 @@ func mapKeysToStrings(node *yaml.Node) {
 	}
 }
 
-func NewJONEncoder(indent int) Encoder {
+func NewJONEncoder(indent int, colorise bool) Encoder {
 	var indentString = ""
 
 	for index := 0; index < indent; index++ {
 		indentString = indentString + " "
 	}
 
-	return &jsonEncoder{indentString}
+	return &jsonEncoder{indentString, colorise}
 }
 
 func (je *jsonEncoder) CanHandleAliases() bool {
@@ -49,7 +51,14 @@ func (je *jsonEncoder) PrintLeadingContent(writer io.Writer, content string) err
 }
 
 func (je *jsonEncoder) Encode(writer io.Writer, node *yaml.Node) error {
-	var encoder = json.NewEncoder(writer)
+
+	destination := writer
+	tempBuffer := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+	if je.colorise {
+		destination = tempBuffer
+	}
+
+	var encoder = json.NewEncoder(destination)
 	encoder.SetEscapeHTML(false) // do not escape html chars e.g. &, <, >
 	encoder.SetIndent("", je.indentString)
 
@@ -60,5 +69,12 @@ func (je *jsonEncoder) Encode(writer io.Writer, node *yaml.Node) error {
 	if errorDecoding != nil {
 		return errorDecoding
 	}
-	return encoder.Encode(dataBucket)
+	err := encoder.Encode(dataBucket)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if je.colorise {
+		return colorizeAndPrint(tempBuffer.Bytes(), writer)
+	}
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/encoder_test.go b/pkg/yqlib/encoder_test.go
index 5e616a65..99687975 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/encoder_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/encoder_test.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ func yamlToJSON(sampleYaml string, indent int) string {
 	var output bytes.Buffer
 	writer := bufio.NewWriter(&output)
 
-	var jsonEncoder = NewJONEncoder(indent)
+	var jsonEncoder = NewJONEncoder(indent, false)
 	inputs, err := readDocuments(strings.NewReader(sampleYaml), "sample.yml", 0, NewYamlDecoder())
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/json_test.go b/pkg/yqlib/json_test.go
index 9e1ac66e..0a400434 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/json_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/json_test.go
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ func decodeJSON(t *testing.T, jsonString string) *CandidateNode {
 
 func testJSONScenario(t *testing.T, s formatScenario) {
 	if s.scenarioType == "encode" || s.scenarioType == "roundtrip" {
-		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, processFormatScenario(s, NewYamlDecoder(), NewJONEncoder(s.indent)), s.description)
+		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, processFormatScenario(s, NewYamlDecoder(), NewJONEncoder(s.indent, false)), s.description)
 	} else {
 		var actual = resultToString(t, decodeJSON(t, s.input))
 		test.AssertResultWithContext(t, s.expected, actual, s.description)
@@ -171,7 +171,7 @@ func documentJSONEncodeScenario(w *bufio.Writer, s formatScenario) {
 	}
 	writeOrPanic(w, "will output\n")
 
-	writeOrPanic(w, fmt.Sprintf("```json\n%v```\n\n", processFormatScenario(s, NewYamlDecoder(), NewJONEncoder(s.indent))))
+	writeOrPanic(w, fmt.Sprintf("```json\n%v```\n\n", processFormatScenario(s, NewYamlDecoder(), NewJONEncoder(s.indent, false))))
 }
 
 func TestJSONScenarios(t *testing.T) {
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/lib.go b/pkg/yqlib/lib.go
index 174a059b..f662d15c 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/lib.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/lib.go
@@ -331,25 +331,23 @@ func parseInt64(numberString string) (string, int64, error) {
 	return "%v", num, err
 }
 
-func parseInt(numberString string) (string, int, error) {
+func parseInt(numberString string) (int, error) {
 	var err error
 	var parsed int64
-	format := "%v"
 	if strings.HasPrefix(numberString, "0x") ||
 		strings.HasPrefix(numberString, "0X") {
-		format = "0x%X"
 		parsed, err = strconv.ParseInt(numberString[2:], 16, 64)
 	} else {
 		parsed, err = strconv.ParseInt(numberString, 10, 64)
 	}
 
 	if err != nil {
-		return "", 0, err
+		return 0, err
 	} else if parsed > math.MaxInt {
-		return "", 0, fmt.Errorf("%v is too big (larger than %v)", parsed, math.MaxInt)
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("%v is too big (larger than %v)", parsed, math.MaxInt)
 	}
 
-	return format, int(parsed), err
+	return int(parsed), err
 }
 
 func createScalarNode(value interface{}, stringValue string) *yaml.Node {
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/operator_encoder_decoder.go b/pkg/yqlib/operator_encoder_decoder.go
index 0a74276d..3ccac2f1 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_encoder_decoder.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_encoder_decoder.go
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import (
 func configureEncoder(format PrinterOutputFormat, indent int) Encoder {
 	switch format {
 	case JSONOutputFormat:
-		return NewJONEncoder(indent)
+		return NewJONEncoder(indent, false)
 	case PropsOutputFormat:
 		return NewPropertiesEncoder()
 	case CSVOutputFormat:
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/operator_pick.go b/pkg/yqlib/operator_pick.go
index 2444c9b2..89063dc3 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_pick.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_pick.go
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ func pickSequence(original *yaml.Node, indices *yaml.Node) (*yaml.Node, error) {
 
 	filteredContent := make([]*yaml.Node, 0)
 	for index := 0; index < len(indices.Content); index = index + 1 {
-		_, indexInArray, err := parseInt(indices.Content[index].Value)
+		indexInArray, err := parseInt(indices.Content[index].Value)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot index array with %v", indices.Content[index].Value)
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/operator_traverse_path.go b/pkg/yqlib/operator_traverse_path.go
index 2aa9ef94..2b40282f 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/operator_traverse_path.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/operator_traverse_path.go
@@ -188,7 +188,7 @@ func traverseArrayWithIndices(candidate *CandidateNode, indices []*yaml.Node, pr
 
 	for _, indexNode := range indices {
 		log.Debug("traverseArrayWithIndices: '%v'", indexNode.Value)
-		_, index, err := parseInt(indexNode.Value)
+		index, err := parseInt(indexNode.Value)
 		if err != nil && prefs.OptionalTraverse {
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/printer_test.go b/pkg/yqlib/printer_test.go
index a2d797e2..544009f3 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/printer_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/printer_test.go
@@ -314,7 +314,7 @@ func TestPrinterMultipleDocsJson(t *testing.T) {
 	var writer = bufio.NewWriter(&output)
 	// note printDocSeparators is true, it should still not print document separators
 	// when outputing JSON.
-	printer := NewPrinter(NewJONEncoder(0), NewSinglePrinterWriter(writer))
+	printer := NewPrinter(NewJONEncoder(0, false), NewSinglePrinterWriter(writer))
 
 	inputs, err := readDocuments(strings.NewReader(multiDocSample), "sample.yml", 0, NewYamlDecoder())
 	if err != nil {