diff --git a/utils/aa-genprof b/utils/aa-genprof
index 21988cdeb..ab62aedc8 100755
--- a/utils/aa-genprof
+++ b/utils/aa-genprof
@@ -72,12 +72,13 @@ parser.add_argument('-j', '--json', action="store_true", help=_('Input and Outpu
 parser.add_argument('--configdir', type=str, help=argparse.SUPPRESS)
 args = parser.parse_args()
 
-if args.json:
-    aaui.set_json_mode()
-
 profiling = args.program
 
 apparmor.init_aa(confdir=args.configdir, profiledir=args.dir)
+
+if args.json:
+    aaui.set_json_mode(apparmor.cfg)
+
 apparmor.set_logfile(args.file)
 
 aa_mountpoint = apparmor.check_for_apparmor()
diff --git a/utils/aa-logprof b/utils/aa-logprof
index 4513e35fd..37f3e937a 100755
--- a/utils/aa-logprof
+++ b/utils/aa-logprof
@@ -31,13 +31,13 @@ parser.add_argument('-j', '--json', action='store_true', help=_('Input and Outpu
 parser.add_argument('--configdir', type=str, help=argparse.SUPPRESS)
 args = parser.parse_args()
 
-if args.json:
-    aaui.set_json_mode()
-
 logmark = args.mark or ''
 
 apparmor.init_aa(confdir=args.configdir, profiledir=args.dir)
 
+if args.json:
+    aaui.set_json_mode(apparmor.cfg)
+
 apparmor.set_logfile(args.file)
 
 aa_mountpoint = apparmor.check_for_apparmor()
diff --git a/utils/apparmor/ui.py b/utils/apparmor/ui.py
index 1163404ab..185ee4458 100644
--- a/utils/apparmor/ui.py
+++ b/utils/apparmor/ui.py
@@ -33,14 +33,20 @@ debug_logger = DebugLogger('UI')
 ARROWS = {'A': 'UP', 'B': 'DOWN', 'C': 'RIGHT', 'D': 'LEFT'}
 
 UI_mode = 'text'
+jsonlog = None
 
 
 def write_json(jsonout):
-    print(json.dumps(jsonout, sort_keys=False, separators=(',', ': ')))
+    jtxt = json.dumps(jsonout, sort_keys=False, separators=(',', ': '))
+
+    if jsonlog:
+        jsonlog.write('o ' + jtxt + '\n')
+
+    print(jtxt)
     sys.stdout.flush()
 
 
-def set_json_mode():
+def set_json_mode(cfg):
     """
     Currently this is only used by aa-genprof and aa-logprof, while e.g.
     aa-status generates its own JSON output.
@@ -50,8 +56,14 @@ def set_json_mode():
 
     Current known consumers of the JSON output:
     - YaST
+
+    The cfg parameter expects the parsed logprof.conf aka apparmor.aa.cfg.
     """
-    global UI_mode
+    global UI_mode, jsonlog
+
+    if int(cfg['settings'].get('json_log', False)):
+        jsonlog = NamedTemporaryFile('w', prefix='aa-jsonlog-', delete=False, encoding='utf-8')
+
     UI_mode = 'json'
     jsonout = {'dialog': 'apparmor-json-version', 'data': '2.12'}
     write_json(jsonout)
@@ -67,6 +79,10 @@ def set_text_mode():
 # for the dialog type
 def json_response(dialog_type):
     string = input('\n')
+
+    if jsonlog:
+        jsonlog.write('i ' + string + '\n')
+
     rh = json.loads(string.strip())
     if rh["dialog"] != dialog_type:
         raise AppArmorException('Expected response %s got %s.' % (dialog_type, string))
diff --git a/utils/logprof.conf b/utils/logprof.conf
index fd804c0ab..64d3f6f1e 100644
--- a/utils/logprof.conf
+++ b/utils/logprof.conf
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@
   # files.
   custom_includes =
 
+  # When called with --json, log all input and output to a tempfile (/tmp/aa-jsonlog-*)
+  # Only enable for debugging.
+  # Note that aa-logprof will not display any hint that aa-jsonlog-* gets written.
+  json_log = 0
 
 [qualifiers]
   # things will be painfully broken if bash has a profile
diff --git a/utils/test/test-aa-cli-bootstrap.py b/utils/test/test-aa-cli-bootstrap.py
index 206445260..b784e7564 100644
--- a/utils/test/test-aa-cli-bootstrap.py
+++ b/utils/test/test-aa-cli-bootstrap.py
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class AACliBootstrapTest(AATest):
         self.assertEqual(sys.stdout.getvalue(), 'Test string\n')
 
     def test_aa_ui_info_json(self):
-        aaui.set_json_mode()
+        aaui.set_json_mode({'settings': {}})
         sys.stdout.getvalue()
         aaui.UI_Info('Test string')
         self.assertEqual(