diff --git a/src/View/JsonView.php b/src/View/JsonView.php
index 5af3d69e1ce..be1ad2f6baa 100644
--- a/src/View/JsonView.php
+++ b/src/View/JsonView.php
@@ -177,9 +177,8 @@ protected function _serialize($serialize)
         }
 
         if (Configure::read('debug')) {
-            return json_encode($data, $jsonOptions | JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
+            $jsonOptions = $jsonOptions | JSON_PRETTY_PRINT;
         }
-
         return json_encode($data, $jsonOptions);
     }
 }