diff --git a/src/lib/print-deps.ts b/src/lib/print-deps.ts
index 3e5a8a1382..1b6eb9a651 100644
--- a/src/lib/print-deps.ts
+++ b/src/lib/print-deps.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ import * as depGraphLib from '@snyk/dep-graph';
 import { DepDict, Options, MonitorOptions } from './types';
 import { legacyCommon as legacyApi } from '@snyk/cli-interface';
 import { countPathsToGraphRoot } from './utils';
-import { jsonStringifyLargeObject } from './json';
 
 export async function maybePrintDepGraph(
   options: Options | MonitorOptions,
@@ -20,18 +19,11 @@ export async function maybePrintDepGraph(
     )) as legacyApi.DepTree;
     maybePrintDepTree(options, depTree);
   } else {
-    if (options['print-deps']) {
-      if (options.json) {
-        console.warn(
-          '--print-deps --json option not yet supported for large projects. Displaying graph json output instead',
-        );
-        // TODO @boost: add as output graphviz 'dot' file to visualize?
-        console.log(jsonStringifyLargeObject(depGraph.toJSON()));
-      } else {
-        console.warn(
-          '--print-deps option not yet supported for large projects. Try with --json.',
-        );
-      }
+    if (options['print-deps'] && !options.json) {
+      // don't print a warning when --json is being used, it can invalidate the JSON output
+      console.warn(
+        '--print-deps option not yet supported for large projects. Try with --json.',
+      );
     }
   }
 }
@@ -42,13 +34,10 @@ export function maybePrintDepTree(
   options: Options | MonitorOptions,
   rootPackage: legacyApi.DepTree,
 ) {
-  if (options['print-deps']) {
-    if (options.json) {
-      // Will produce 2 JSON outputs, one for the deps, one for the vuln scan.
-      console.log(jsonStringifyLargeObject(rootPackage));
-    } else {
-      printDepsForTree({ [rootPackage.name!]: rootPackage });
-    }
+  if (options['print-deps'] && !options.json) {
+    // only print human readable output tree if NOT using --json
+    // to ensure this output does not invalidate JSON output
+    printDepsForTree({ [rootPackage.name!]: rootPackage });
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/lib/snyk-test/legacy.ts b/src/lib/snyk-test/legacy.ts
index e82b587f44..87f8a4a487 100644
--- a/src/lib/snyk-test/legacy.ts
+++ b/src/lib/snyk-test/legacy.ts
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ export interface LegacyVulnApiResult extends BasicResultData {
   filesystemPolicy?: boolean;
   uniqueCount?: any;
   remediation?: RemediationChanges;
+  depGraph?: depGraphLib.DepGraphData;
 }
 
 export interface BaseImageRemediation {
@@ -451,6 +452,9 @@ function convertTestDepGraphResultToLegacy(
     severityThreshold,
     remediation: result.remediation,
   };
+  if (options['print-deps']) {
+    legacyRes.depGraph = depGraph.toJSON();
+  }
 
   return legacyRes;
 }
diff --git a/test/jest/acceptance/cli-json-file-output.spec.ts b/test/jest/acceptance/cli-json-file-output.spec.ts
index ec01fa175b..6d7b7a503a 100644
--- a/test/jest/acceptance/cli-json-file-output.spec.ts
+++ b/test/jest/acceptance/cli-json-file-output.spec.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { createProjectFromWorkspace } from '../util/createProject';
 import { runSnykCLI } from '../util/runSnykCLI';
 import { humanFileSize } from '../../utils';
 import { getServerPort } from '../util/getServerPort';
+import * as depGraphLib from '@snyk/dep-graph';
 
 jest.setTimeout(1000 * 60);
 
@@ -112,4 +113,45 @@ describe('test --json-file-output', () => {
     expect(fileExists).toBeFalsy();
     expect(code).toEqual(0);
   });
+
+  describe('print-deps', () => {
+    it('saves JSON output to file with depGraph when --print-deps is used', async () => {
+      const project = await createProjectFromWorkspace('maven-app');
+      const outputPath = 'json-file-output.json';
+
+      const { code } = await runSnykCLI(
+        `test --print-deps --json-file-output=${outputPath}`,
+        {
+          cwd: project.path(),
+          env,
+        },
+      );
+
+      expect(code).toEqual(0);
+      const json = await project.readJSON(outputPath);
+      expect(json.depGraph).toBeTruthy();
+      const depGraph = depGraphLib.createFromJSON(json.depGraph);
+      expect(depGraph.getPkgs()).toContainEqual({
+        name: 'axis:axis',
+        version: '1.4',
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('saves JSON output to file without a depGraph when --print-deps is not used', async () => {
+      const project = await createProjectFromWorkspace('maven-app');
+      const outputPath = 'json-file-output.json';
+
+      const { code } = await runSnykCLI(
+        `test --json-file-output=${outputPath}`,
+        {
+          cwd: project.path(),
+          env,
+        },
+      );
+
+      expect(code).toEqual(0);
+      const json = await project.readJSON(outputPath);
+      expect(json.depGraph).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/test/jest/acceptance/cli-json-output.spec.ts b/test/jest/acceptance/cli-json-output.spec.ts
index ace22fd15c..71a445c0db 100644
--- a/test/jest/acceptance/cli-json-output.spec.ts
+++ b/test/jest/acceptance/cli-json-output.spec.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import { getServerPort } from '../util/getServerPort';
 import { runSnykCLI } from '../util/runSnykCLI';
 import { AppliedPolicyRules } from '../../../src/lib/formatters/types';
 import * as Parser from 'jsonparse';
+import * as depGraphLib from '@snyk/dep-graph';
 
 jest.setTimeout(1000 * 60);
 
@@ -193,4 +194,38 @@ describe('test --json', () => {
       }
     });
   });
+
+  describe('print-deps', () => {
+    it('JSON output contains depGraph when --print-deps is used', async () => {
+      const project = await createProjectFromWorkspace('maven-app');
+
+      const { code, stdout } = await runSnykCLI(`test --print-deps --json`, {
+        cwd: project.path(),
+        env,
+      });
+
+      expect(code).toEqual(0);
+      console.log(stdout);
+
+      const json = JSON.parse(stdout);
+      const depGraph = depGraphLib.createFromJSON(json.depGraph);
+      expect(depGraph.getPkgs()).toContainEqual({
+        name: 'axis:axis',
+        version: '1.4',
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('JSON output has no depGraph when --print-deps is not used', async () => {
+      const project = await createProjectFromWorkspace('maven-app');
+
+      const { code, stdout } = await runSnykCLI(`test --json`, {
+        cwd: project.path(),
+        env,
+      });
+
+      expect(code).toEqual(0);
+      const json = JSON.parse(stdout);
+      expect(json.depGraph).toBeUndefined();
+    });
+  });
 });