diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 13575e7c2b0..5080389666c 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 ### Additions and Improvements
 - Added `benchmark` subcommand to `evmtool` [#5754](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/issues/5754)
+- JSON output is now compact by default. This can be overridden by the new `--json-pretty-print-enabled` CLI option. [#5766](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/5766)
 
 ### Bug Fixes
 - Make smart contract permissioning features work with london fork [#5727](https://github.com/hyperledger/besu/pull/5727)
diff --git a/besu/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/BesuCommand.java b/besu/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/BesuCommand.java
index c72a9766920..e0330170b7f 100644
--- a/besu/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/BesuCommand.java
+++ b/besu/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/cli/BesuCommand.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import static org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.api.graphql.GraphQLConfiguration.DEFAULT_GRAPHQL_HTTP_PORT;
 import static org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.api.jsonrpc.JsonRpcConfiguration.DEFAULT_ENGINE_JSON_RPC_PORT;
 import static org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.api.jsonrpc.JsonRpcConfiguration.DEFAULT_JSON_RPC_PORT;
+import static org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.api.jsonrpc.JsonRpcConfiguration.DEFAULT_PRETTY_JSON_ENABLED;
 import static org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.api.jsonrpc.RpcApis.DEFAULT_RPC_APIS;
 import static org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.api.jsonrpc.RpcApis.VALID_APIS;
 import static org.hyperledger.besu.ethereum.api.jsonrpc.authentication.EngineAuthService.EPHEMERAL_JWT_FILE;
@@ -779,6 +780,11 @@ static class JsonRPCHttpOptionGroup {
         paramLabel = MANDATORY_LONG_FORMAT_HELP,
         description = "Specifies the maximum request content length. (default: ${DEFAULT-VALUE})")
     private final Long rpcHttpMaxRequestContentLength = DEFAULT_MAX_REQUEST_CONTENT_LENGTH;
+
+    @Option(
+        names = {"--json-pretty-print-enabled"},
+        description = "Enable JSON pretty print format (default: ${DEFAULT-VALUE})")
+    private final Boolean prettyJsonEnabled = DEFAULT_PRETTY_JSON_ENABLED;
   }
 
   // JSON-RPC Websocket Options
@@ -2443,6 +2449,7 @@ && rpcHttpAuthenticationCredentialsFile() == null
     jsonRpcConfiguration.setMaxBatchSize(jsonRPCHttpOptionGroup.rpcHttpMaxBatchSize);
     jsonRpcConfiguration.setMaxRequestContentLength(
         jsonRPCHttpOptionGroup.rpcHttpMaxRequestContentLength);
+    jsonRpcConfiguration.setPrettyJsonEnabled(jsonRPCHttpOptionGroup.prettyJsonEnabled);
     return jsonRpcConfiguration;
   }
 
diff --git a/besu/src/test/resources/everything_config.toml b/besu/src/test/resources/everything_config.toml
index d0bb8c2cf76..459346dc537 100644
--- a/besu/src/test/resources/everything_config.toml
+++ b/besu/src/test/resources/everything_config.toml
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ rpc-http-tls-cipher-suites=["TLS_ECDHE_RSA_WITH_AES_256_GCM_SHA384","TLS_ECDHE_R
 rpc-http-max-batch-size=1
 rpc-http-max-request-content-length = 5242880
 rpc-max-logs-range=100
+json-pretty-print-enabled=false
 
 # PRIVACY TLS
 privacy-tls-enabled=false
diff --git a/ethereum/api/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/api/handlers/JsonRpcObjectExecutor.java b/ethereum/api/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/api/handlers/JsonRpcObjectExecutor.java
index e1a655657fa..d2a2cb37428 100644
--- a/ethereum/api/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/api/handlers/JsonRpcObjectExecutor.java
+++ b/ethereum/api/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/api/handlers/JsonRpcObjectExecutor.java
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 import io.vertx.ext.web.RoutingContext;
 
 public class JsonRpcObjectExecutor extends AbstractJsonRpcExecutor {
-  private static final ObjectWriter jsonObjectWriter = createObjectWriter();
+  private final ObjectWriter jsonObjectWriter = createObjectWriter();
 
   public JsonRpcObjectExecutor(
       final JsonRpcExecutor jsonRpcExecutor,
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ String getRpcMethodName(final RoutingContext ctx) {
     return jsonObject.getString("method");
   }
 
-  private static void handleJsonObjectResponse(
+  private void handleJsonObjectResponse(
       final HttpServerResponse response,
       final JsonRpcResponse jsonRpcResponse,
       final RoutingContext ctx)
@@ -90,9 +90,12 @@ private static HttpResponseStatus status(final JsonRpcResponse response) {
     };
   }
 
-  private static ObjectWriter createObjectWriter() {
-    return getJsonObjectMapper()
-        .writerWithDefaultPrettyPrinter()
+  private ObjectWriter createObjectWriter() {
+    ObjectWriter writer =
+        jsonRpcConfiguration.isPrettyJsonEnabled()
+            ? getJsonObjectMapper().writerWithDefaultPrettyPrinter()
+            : getJsonObjectMapper().writer();
+    return writer
         .without(JsonGenerator.Feature.FLUSH_PASSED_TO_STREAM)
         .with(JsonGenerator.Feature.AUTO_CLOSE_TARGET);
   }
diff --git a/ethereum/api/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/api/jsonrpc/JsonRpcConfiguration.java b/ethereum/api/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/api/jsonrpc/JsonRpcConfiguration.java
index cb77d9ce818..2ed9c56d540 100644
--- a/ethereum/api/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/api/jsonrpc/JsonRpcConfiguration.java
+++ b/ethereum/api/src/main/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/api/jsonrpc/JsonRpcConfiguration.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ public class JsonRpcConfiguration {
   public static final int DEFAULT_MAX_ACTIVE_CONNECTIONS = 80;
   public static final int DEFAULT_MAX_BATCH_SIZE = 1024;
   public static final long DEFAULT_MAX_REQUEST_CONTENT_LENGTH = 5 * 1024 * 1024; // 5MB
+  public static final boolean DEFAULT_PRETTY_JSON_ENABLED = false;
 
   private boolean enabled;
   private int port;
@@ -55,6 +56,7 @@ public class JsonRpcConfiguration {
   private int maxActiveConnections;
   private int maxBatchSize;
   private long maxRequestContentLength;
+  private boolean prettyJsonEnabled;
 
   public static JsonRpcConfiguration createDefault() {
     final JsonRpcConfiguration config = new JsonRpcConfiguration();
@@ -66,6 +68,7 @@ public static JsonRpcConfiguration createDefault() {
     config.setMaxActiveConnections(DEFAULT_MAX_ACTIVE_CONNECTIONS);
     config.setMaxBatchSize(DEFAULT_MAX_BATCH_SIZE);
     config.setMaxRequestContentLength(DEFAULT_MAX_REQUEST_CONTENT_LENGTH);
+    config.setPrettyJsonEnabled(DEFAULT_PRETTY_JSON_ENABLED);
     return config;
   }
 
@@ -196,6 +199,14 @@ public void setHttpTimeoutSec(final long httpTimeoutSec) {
     this.httpTimeoutSec = httpTimeoutSec;
   }
 
+  public boolean isPrettyJsonEnabled() {
+    return prettyJsonEnabled;
+  }
+
+  public void setPrettyJsonEnabled(final boolean prettyJsonEnabled) {
+    this.prettyJsonEnabled = prettyJsonEnabled;
+  }
+
   @Override
   public String toString() {
     return MoreObjects.toStringHelper(this)
diff --git a/ethereum/api/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/api/jsonrpc/internal/filter/EthJsonRpcHttpServiceTest.java b/ethereum/api/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/api/jsonrpc/internal/filter/EthJsonRpcHttpServiceTest.java
index d881c866da7..bdef98bb039 100644
--- a/ethereum/api/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/api/jsonrpc/internal/filter/EthJsonRpcHttpServiceTest.java
+++ b/ethereum/api/src/test/java/org/hyperledger/besu/ethereum/api/jsonrpc/internal/filter/EthJsonRpcHttpServiceTest.java
@@ -45,8 +45,7 @@ private Hash recordPendingTransaction(final int blockNumber, final int transacti
   @Test
   public void getFilterChanges_noBlocks() throws Exception {
     startService();
-    final String expectedRespBody =
-        String.format("{%n  \"jsonrpc\" : \"2.0\",%n  \"id\" : 2,%n  \"result\" : [ ]%n}");
+    final String expectedRespBody = String.format("{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":2,\"result\":[]}");
     final ResponseBody body = ethNewBlockFilter(1).body();
     final String result = getResult(body);
     body.close();
@@ -60,7 +59,7 @@ public void getFilterChanges_oneBlock() throws Exception {
     BlockchainSetupUtil blockchainSetupUtil = startServiceWithEmptyChain(DataStorageFormat.FOREST);
     final String expectedRespBody =
         String.format(
-            "{%n  \"jsonrpc\" : \"2.0\",%n  \"id\" : 2,%n  \"result\" : [ \"0x10aaf14a53caf27552325374429d3558398a36d3682ede6603c2c6511896e9f9\" ]%n}");
+            "{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":2,\"result\":[\"0x10aaf14a53caf27552325374429d3558398a36d3682ede6603c2c6511896e9f9\"]}");
     final ResponseBody body = ethNewBlockFilter(1).body();
     final String result = getResult(body);
     body.close();
@@ -75,8 +74,7 @@ public void getFilterChanges_oneBlock() throws Exception {
   @Test
   public void getFilterChanges_noTransactions() throws Exception {
     startService();
-    final String expectedRespBody =
-        String.format("{%n  \"jsonrpc\" : \"2.0\",%n  \"id\" : 2,%n  \"result\" : [ ]%n}");
+    final String expectedRespBody = String.format("{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":2,\"result\":[]}");
     final ResponseBody body = ethNewPendingTransactionFilter(1).body();
     final String result = getResult(body);
     body.close();
@@ -96,18 +94,14 @@ public void getFilterChanges_oneTransaction() throws Exception {
     final Response resp = ethGetFilterChanges(2, result);
     assertThat(resp.code()).isEqualTo(200);
     final String expectedRespBody =
-        String.format(
-            "{%n  \"jsonrpc\" : \"2.0\",%n  \"id\" : 2,%n  \"result\" : [ \""
-                + transactionHash
-                + "\" ]%n}");
+        String.format("{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":2,\"result\":[\"" + transactionHash + "\"]}");
     assertThat(resp.body().string()).isEqualTo(expectedRespBody);
   }
 
   @Test
   public void uninstallFilter() throws Exception {
     startService();
-    final String expectedRespBody =
-        String.format("{%n  \"jsonrpc\" : \"2.0\",%n  \"id\" : 2,%n  \"result\" : true%n}");
+    final String expectedRespBody = String.format("{\"jsonrpc\":\"2.0\",\"id\":2,\"result\":true}");
     final ResponseBody body = ethNewBlockFilter(1).body();
     final String result = getResult(body);
     body.close();