diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/main_test.go b/cmd/govulncheck/main_test.go
index 9c3b3018..418b3ba8 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/main_test.go
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/main_test.go
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ func runTestSuite(t *testing.T, dir string, govulndb string, update bool) {
 
 func isJSONMode(args []string) bool {
 	for _, arg := range args {
-		if arg == "-json" {
+		if arg == "json" {
 			return true
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-call/binary_call_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-call/binary_call_json.ct
index 837d8d48..3523b58a 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-call/binary_call_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-call/binary_call_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test basic binary scanning with json output
-$ govulncheck -json -mode=binary ${vuln_binary}
+$ govulncheck -format json -mode binary ${vuln_binary}
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-call/binary_vendored_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-call/binary_vendored_json.ct
index 23c70f0e..233939a0 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-call/binary_vendored_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-call/binary_vendored_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test basic binary scanning with json output
-$ govulncheck -json -mode=binary ${vendored_binary}
+$ govulncheck -format json -mode binary ${vendored_binary}
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-module/binary_module_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-module/binary_module_json.ct
index 7ca41912..ab425000 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-module/binary_module_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-module/binary_module_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test binary scanning at the module level with json output
-$ govulncheck -json -mode=binary -scan=module ${vuln_binary}
+$ govulncheck -format json -mode binary -scan module ${vuln_binary}
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-package/binary_package_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-package/binary_package_json.ct
index 66f23bd7..9e125956 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-package/binary_package_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/binary-package/binary_package_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test binary scanning at the package level with json output
-$ govulncheck -json -mode=binary -scan=package ${vuln_binary}
+$ govulncheck -format json -mode binary -scan package ${vuln_binary}
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/failures/query_fail.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/failures/query_fail.ct
index cac82425..b643b415 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/failures/query_fail.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/failures/query_fail.ct
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 #####
 # Test of query mode with invalid input.
-$ govulncheck -mode=query -json example.com/module@ --> FAIL 2
+$ govulncheck -mode=query -format json example.com/module@ --> FAIL 2
 invalid query example.com/module@: must be of the form module@version
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/failures/usage_fail.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/failures/usage_fail.ct
index 00791660..918eeada 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/failures/usage_fail.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/failures/usage_fail.ct
@@ -12,3 +12,18 @@ the -show flag is not supported for JSON output
 # Test of invalid input to -scan
 $ govulncheck -scan=invalid ./... --> FAIL 2
 "invalid" is not a valid scan level
+
+#####
+# Test of invalid -format value
+$ govulncheck -format  invalid ./... --> FAIL 2
+"invalid" is not a valid output format
+
+#####
+# Test of trying to run -json with '-format text' flag
+$ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/vuln -json -format text . --> FAIL 2
+the -json flag cannot be used with -format flag
+
+#####
+# Test of explicit format use together with -json flag
+$ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/vuln -format json -json . --> FAIL 2
+the -json flag cannot be used with -format flag
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/query/query_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/query/query_json.ct
index 5a27e865..857fda28 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/query/query_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/query/query_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test of query mode for a third party module.
-$ govulncheck -mode=query -json github.com/tidwall/gjson@v1.6.5
+$ govulncheck -mode=query -format json github.com/tidwall/gjson@v1.6.5
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/query/query_multi_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/query/query_multi_json.ct
index c0d4c8f7..8af0474b 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/query/query_multi_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/query/query_multi_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test of query mode with multiple inputs.
-$ govulncheck -mode=query -json stdlib@go1.17 github.com/tidwall/gjson@v1.6.5
+$ govulncheck -mode=query -format json stdlib@go1.17 github.com/tidwall/gjson@v1.6.5
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_call_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_call_json.ct
index 1e83eebb..b24e7513 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_call_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_call_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 #####
-#
-$ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/vuln -json ./...
+$ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/vuln -format json ./...
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_informational_text.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_informational_text.ct
index bab24106..2e1eeb43 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_informational_text.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_informational_text.ct
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #####
-# Test souce mode with no callstacks
+# Test source mode with no callstacks
 $ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/informational -show=traces .
 Scanning your code and P packages across M dependent modules for known vulnerabilities...
 
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_multientry_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_multientry_json.ct
index b618b71f..599b4211 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_multientry_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_multientry_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test for multiple call stacks in source mode
-$ govulncheck -json -C ${moddir}/multientry .
+$ govulncheck -format json -C ${moddir}/multientry .
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_replace_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_replace_json.ct
index 9175288a..95705d1c 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_replace_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_replace_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test of source mode json on a module with a replace directive.
-$ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/replace -json ./...
+$ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/replace -format json ./...
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_vendored_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_vendored_json.ct
index 39b75910..f00922ae 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_vendored_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-call/source_vendored_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 #
-$ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/vendored -json ./...
+$ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/vendored -format json ./...
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-module/source_module_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-module/source_module_json.ct
index 0a859967..3b728b53 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-module/source_module_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-module/source_module_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test that findings with callstacks or packages are not emitted in module mode
-$ govulncheck -json -scan module -C ${moddir}/multientry
+$ govulncheck -format json -scan module -C ${moddir}/multientry
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-package/source_package_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-package/source_package_json.ct
index 56679fe5..738eba98 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-package/source_package_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/source-package/source_package_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test that findings with callstacks are not emitted in package mode
-$ govulncheck -json -scan package -C ${moddir}/multientry .
+$ govulncheck -format json -scan package -C ${moddir}/multientry .
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/stdlib/query_stdlib_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/stdlib/query_stdlib_json.ct
index 8dd9b276..5ea84b86 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/stdlib/query_stdlib_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/stdlib/query_stdlib_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test of query mode with the standard library.
-$ govulncheck -mode=query -json stdlib@go1.17
+$ govulncheck -mode=query -format json stdlib@go1.17
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/stdlib/query_vstdlib_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/stdlib/query_vstdlib_json.ct
index bbd1e48d..4f3aa129 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/stdlib/query_vstdlib_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/stdlib/query_vstdlib_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test of query mode with the standard library (with a v prefix on the version).
-$ govulncheck -mode=query -json stdlib@v1.17.0
+$ govulncheck -mode=query -format json stdlib@v1.17.0
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/stdlib/source_stdlib_json.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/stdlib/source_stdlib_json.ct
index 2e5745d6..8586cc79 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/stdlib/source_stdlib_json.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/stdlib/source_stdlib_json.ct
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #####
 # Test finding stdlib vulnerability in source mode with json output
-$ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/stdlib -json .
+$ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/stdlib -format json .
 {
   "config": {
     "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/usage/format.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/usage/format.ct
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2415087a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/usage/format.ct
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+#####
+# Test of explicit text format
+$ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/informational -format text .
+Scanning your code and P packages across M dependent modules for known vulnerabilities...
+
+=== Symbol Results ===
+
+No vulnerabilities found.
+
+Your code is affected by 0 vulnerabilities.
+This scan also found 1 vulnerability in packages you import and 1 vulnerability
+in modules you require, but your code doesn't appear to call these
+vulnerabilities.
+Use '-show verbose' for more details.
+
+# Test of explicit json format
+$ govulncheck -C ${moddir}/informational -format json
+{
+  "config": {
+    "protocol_version": "v1.0.0",
+    "scanner_name": "govulncheck",
+    "scanner_version": "v0.0.0-00000000000-20000101010101",
+    "db": "testdata/vulndb-v1",
+    "db_last_modified": "2023-04-03T15:57:51Z",
+    "go_version": "go1.18",
+    "scan_level": "symbol"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/usage/usage.ct b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/usage/usage.ct
index 030c31b6..968c4393 100644
--- a/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/usage/usage.ct
+++ b/cmd/govulncheck/testdata/testfiles/usage/usage.ct
@@ -12,8 +12,11 @@ Usage:
     	change to dir before running govulncheck
   -db url
     	vulnerability database url (default "https://vuln.go.dev")
+  -format string
+    	specify format output
+    	The supported values are 'text' and 'json' (default 'text')
   -json
-    	output JSON
+    	output JSON (Go compatible legacy flag, see format flag)
   -mode string
     	supports source or binary (default "source")
   -scan string
diff --git a/internal/scan/flags.go b/internal/scan/flags.go
index 3d361d5c..afed5466 100644
--- a/internal/scan/flags.go
+++ b/internal/scan/flags.go
@@ -20,11 +20,11 @@ type config struct {
 	patterns []string
 	mode     string
 	db       string
-	json     bool
 	dir      string
-	tags     []string
+	tags     buildutil.TagsFlag
 	test     bool
-	show     []string
+	show     showFlag
+	format   string
 	env      []string
 }
 
@@ -34,21 +34,25 @@ const (
 	modeConvert = "convert" // only intended for use by gopls
 	modeQuery   = "query"   // only intended for use by gopls
 	modeExtract = "extract" // currently, only binary extraction is supported
+
+	formatUnset = ""
+	formatJSON  = "json"
+	formatText  = "text"
 )
 
 func parseFlags(cfg *config, stderr io.Writer, args []string) error {
-	var tagsFlag buildutil.TagsFlag
-	var showFlag showFlag
 	var version bool
+	var json bool
 	flags := flag.NewFlagSet("", flag.ContinueOnError)
 	flags.SetOutput(stderr)
-	flags.BoolVar(&cfg.json, "json", false, "output JSON")
+	flags.BoolVar(&json, "json", false, "output JSON (Go compatible legacy flag, see format flag)")
 	flags.BoolVar(&cfg.test, "test", false, "analyze test files (only valid for source mode, default false)")
 	flags.StringVar(&cfg.dir, "C", "", "change to `dir` before running govulncheck")
 	flags.StringVar(&cfg.db, "db", "https://vuln.go.dev", "vulnerability database `url`")
 	flags.StringVar(&cfg.mode, "mode", modeSource, "supports source or binary")
-	flags.Var(&tagsFlag, "tags", "comma-separated `list` of build tags")
-	flags.Var(&showFlag, "show", "enable display of additional information specified by the comma separated `list`\nThe supported values are 'traces','color', 'version', and 'verbose'")
+	flags.Var(&cfg.tags, "tags", "comma-separated `list` of build tags")
+	flags.Var(&cfg.show, "show", "enable display of additional information specified by the comma separated `list`\nThe supported values are 'traces','color', 'version', and 'verbose'")
+	flags.StringVar(&cfg.format, "format", formatUnset, "specify format output\nThe supported values are 'text' and 'json' (default 'text')")
 	flags.BoolVar(&version, "version", false, "print the version information")
 	scanLevel := flags.String("scan", "symbol", "set the scanning level desired, one of module, package or symbol")
 	flags.Usage = func() {
@@ -70,13 +74,11 @@ Usage:
 		return err
 	}
 	cfg.patterns = flags.Args()
-	cfg.tags = tagsFlag
-	cfg.show = showFlag
 	if version {
 		cfg.show = append(cfg.show, "version")
 	}
 	cfg.ScanLevel = govulncheck.ScanLevel(*scanLevel)
-	if err := validateConfig(cfg); err != nil {
+	if err := validateConfig(cfg, json); err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintln(flags.Output(), err)
 		return errUsage
 	}
@@ -97,13 +99,36 @@ var supportedLevels = map[string]bool{
 	govulncheck.ScanLevelSymbol:  true,
 }
 
-func validateConfig(cfg *config) error {
+var supportedFormats = map[string]bool{
+	formatJSON: true,
+	formatText: true,
+}
+
+func validateConfig(cfg *config, json bool) error {
+	if json {
+		if len(cfg.show) > 0 {
+			return fmt.Errorf("the -show flag is not supported for JSON output")
+		}
+		if cfg.format != formatUnset {
+			return fmt.Errorf("the -json flag cannot be used with -format flag")
+		}
+		cfg.format = formatJSON
+	} else {
+		if cfg.format == formatUnset {
+			cfg.format = formatText
+		}
+	}
+
 	if _, ok := supportedModes[cfg.mode]; !ok {
 		return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a valid mode", cfg.mode)
 	}
 	if _, ok := supportedLevels[string(cfg.ScanLevel)]; !ok {
 		return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a valid scan level", cfg.ScanLevel)
 	}
+	if _, ok := supportedFormats[cfg.format]; !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a valid output format", cfg.format)
+	}
+
 	switch cfg.mode {
 	case modeSource:
 		if len(cfg.patterns) == 1 && isFile(cfg.patterns[0]) {
@@ -135,8 +160,8 @@ func validateConfig(cfg *config) error {
 		if len(cfg.patterns) != 1 {
 			return fmt.Errorf("only 1 binary can be extracted at a time")
 		}
-		if cfg.json {
-			return fmt.Errorf("the -json flag must be off in extract mode")
+		if cfg.format == formatJSON {
+			return fmt.Errorf("the json format must be off in extract mode")
 		}
 		if !isFile(cfg.patterns[0]) {
 			return fmt.Errorf("%q is not a file (source extraction is not supported)", cfg.patterns[0])
@@ -161,8 +186,8 @@ func validateConfig(cfg *config) error {
 		if len(cfg.tags) > 0 {
 			return fmt.Errorf("the -tags flag is not supported in query mode")
 		}
-		if !cfg.json {
-			return fmt.Errorf("the -json flag must be set in query mode")
+		if cfg.format != formatJSON {
+			return fmt.Errorf("the json format must be set in query mode")
 		}
 		for _, pattern := range cfg.patterns {
 			// Parse the input here so that we can catch errors before
@@ -172,9 +197,6 @@ func validateConfig(cfg *config) error {
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	if cfg.json && len(cfg.show) > 0 {
-		return fmt.Errorf("the -show flag is not supported for JSON output")
-	}
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/scan/run.go b/internal/scan/run.go
index a8fdbb10..30529dce 100644
--- a/internal/scan/run.go
+++ b/internal/scan/run.go
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ func RunGovulncheck(ctx context.Context, env []string, r io.Reader, stdout io.Wr
 
 	prepareConfig(ctx, cfg, client)
 	var handler govulncheck.Handler
-	switch {
-	case cfg.json:
+	switch cfg.format {
+	case formatJSON:
 		handler = govulncheck.NewJSONHandler(stdout)
 	default:
 		th := NewTextHandler(stdout)