diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/bootstrap/bootstrap-environment.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/bootstrap/bootstrap-environment.ts
index a7b63214a3c80..f86a3d96b85b5 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/bootstrap/bootstrap-environment.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/api/bootstrap/bootstrap-environment.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { info } from 'console';
 import * as path from 'path';
 import * as cxapi from '@aws-cdk/cx-api';
 import { warning } from '../../logging';
-import { loadStructuredFile, toYAML } from '../../serialize';
+import { loadStructuredFile, serializeStructure } from '../../serialize';
 import { rootDir } from '../../util/directories';
 import { SdkProvider } from '../aws-auth';
 import { DeployStackResult } from '../deploy-stack';
@@ -33,9 +33,9 @@ export class Bootstrapper {
     }
   }
 
-  public async showTemplate() {
+  public async showTemplate(json: boolean) {
     const template = await this.loadTemplate();
-    process.stdout.write(`${toYAML(template)}\n`);
+    process.stdout.write(`${serializeStructure(template, json)}\n`);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli.ts
index 28fd01f308e39..b9cf877c7873b 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli.ts
@@ -431,7 +431,7 @@ async function initCommandLine() {
         const bootstrapper = new Bootstrapper(source);
 
         if (args.showTemplate) {
-          return bootstrapper.showTemplate();
+          return bootstrapper.showTemplate(args.json);
         }
 
         return cli.bootstrap(args.ENVIRONMENTS, bootstrapper, {
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/bootstrap.test.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/bootstrap.test.ts
index 888a649cc735e..0362ad8089b40 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/bootstrap.test.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/test/api/bootstrap.test.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import { CreateChangeSetInput } from 'aws-sdk/clients/cloudformation';
+import { parse } from 'yaml';
 import { Bootstrapper } from '../../lib/api/bootstrap';
 import { deserializeStructure } from '../../lib/serialize';
 import { MockSdkProvider, SyncHandlerSubsetOf } from '../util/mock-sdk';
@@ -297,3 +298,23 @@ test('stack is termination protected when set', async () => {
   expect(executed).toBeTruthy();
   expect(protectedTermination).toBeTruthy();
 });
+
+test('do showTemplate YAML', async () => {
+  process.stdout.write = jest.fn().mockImplementationOnce((template) => {
+    // THEN
+    expect(parse(template)).toHaveProperty('Description', 'The CDK Toolkit Stack. It was created by `cdk bootstrap` and manages resources necessary for managing your Cloud Applications with AWS CDK.');
+  });
+
+  // WHEN
+  await bootstrapper.showTemplate(false);
+});
+
+test('do showTemplate JSON', async () => {
+  process.stdout.write = jest.fn().mockImplementationOnce((template) => {
+    // THEN
+    expect(JSON.parse(template)).toHaveProperty('Description', 'The CDK Toolkit Stack. It was created by `cdk bootstrap` and manages resources necessary for managing your Cloud Applications with AWS CDK.');
+  });
+
+  // WHEN
+  await bootstrapper.showTemplate(true);
+});