diff --git a/tests/cli.js b/tests/cli.js
index 492e9df3..1ff477f8 100644
--- a/tests/cli.js
+++ b/tests/cli.js
@@ -602,7 +602,7 @@ test('run `cli --check` on duplicate patterns without TTY', macro.testCLI, {
   isTerminal: { stderr: false, stdout: false },
 })
 
-const badFormat = `{`
+const badFormat = ''
 
 test('run `cli --check` on 1 non-json file', macro.testCLI, {
   fixtures: [
diff --git a/tests/snapshots/cli.js.md b/tests/snapshots/cli.js.md
index 8fe722cc..41070205 100644
--- a/tests/snapshots/cli.js.md
+++ b/tests/snapshots/cli.js.md
@@ -1848,9 +1848,9 @@ Generated by [AVA](https://avajs.dev).
       ],
       fixtures: [
         {
-          expect: '{',
+          expect: '',
           file: 'notJson/package.json',
-          original: '{',
+          original: '',
         },
       ],
       isTerminal: {
@@ -1860,7 +1860,7 @@ Generated by [AVA](https://avajs.dev).
       result: {
         errorCode: 1,
         stderr: `could not check notJson/package.json␊
-        Expected property name or '}' in JSON at position 1␊
+        Unexpected end of JSON input␊
         `,
         stdout: `␊
         1 of 1 matched file is not sorted.␊
@@ -1880,9 +1880,9 @@ Generated by [AVA](https://avajs.dev).
       ],
       fixtures: [
         {
-          expect: '{',
+          expect: '',
           file: 'notJson/package.json',
-          original: '{',
+          original: '',
         },
       ],
       isTerminal: {
@@ -1892,7 +1892,7 @@ Generated by [AVA](https://avajs.dev).
       result: {
         errorCode: 1,
         stderr: `could not check notJson/package.json␊
-        Expected property name or '}' in JSON at position 1␊
+        Unexpected end of JSON input␊
         `,
         stdout: '',
       },
@@ -1909,9 +1909,9 @@ Generated by [AVA](https://avajs.dev).
       ],
       fixtures: [
         {
-          expect: '{',
+          expect: '',
           file: 'notJson/package.json',
-          original: '{',
+          original: '',
         },
       ],
       isTerminal: {
@@ -1936,9 +1936,9 @@ Generated by [AVA](https://avajs.dev).
       ],
       fixtures: [
         {
-          expect: '{',
+          expect: '',
           file: 'notJson/package.json',
-          original: '{',
+          original: '',
         },
       ],
       isTerminal: {
@@ -1948,7 +1948,7 @@ Generated by [AVA](https://avajs.dev).
       result: {
         errorCode: 1,
         stderr: `could not sort notJson/package.json␊
-        Expected property name or '}' in JSON at position 1␊
+        Unexpected end of JSON input␊
         `,
         stdout: '',
       },
@@ -1965,9 +1965,9 @@ Generated by [AVA](https://avajs.dev).
       ],
       fixtures: [
         {
-          expect: '{',
+          expect: '',
           file: 'notJson/package.json',
-          original: '{',
+          original: '',
         },
       ],
       isTerminal: {
@@ -1977,7 +1977,7 @@ Generated by [AVA](https://avajs.dev).
       result: {
         errorCode: 1,
         stderr: `could not sort notJson/package.json␊
-        Expected property name or '}' in JSON at position 1␊
+        Unexpected end of JSON input␊
         `,
         stdout: '',
       },
@@ -1993,9 +1993,9 @@ Generated by [AVA](https://avajs.dev).
       ],
       fixtures: [
         {
-          expect: '{',
+          expect: '',
           file: 'notJson/package.json',
-          original: '{',
+          original: '',
         },
       ],
       isTerminal: {
diff --git a/tests/snapshots/cli.js.snap b/tests/snapshots/cli.js.snap
index 24bd21e6..83d4b27a 100644
Binary files a/tests/snapshots/cli.js.snap and b/tests/snapshots/cli.js.snap differ