diff --git a/monitor.c b/monitor.c
index 2a14e81614..d5b406c291 100644
--- a/monitor.c
+++ b/monitor.c
@@ -120,7 +120,6 @@ struct mon_fd_t {
 
 typedef struct MonitorControl {
     QObject *id;
-    int print_enabled;
     JSONMessageParser parser;
     int command_mode;
 } MonitorControl;
@@ -226,16 +225,18 @@ static void monitor_puts(Monitor *mon, const char *str)
 
 void monitor_vprintf(Monitor *mon, const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 {
+    char buf[4096];
+
     if (!mon)
         return;
 
-    if (mon->mc && !mon->mc->print_enabled) {
+    if (monitor_ctrl_mode(mon)) {
         qemu_error_new(QERR_UNDEFINED_ERROR);
-    } else {
-        char buf[4096];
-        vsnprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), fmt, ap);
-        monitor_puts(mon, buf);
+        return;
     }
+
+    vsnprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), fmt, ap);
+    monitor_puts(mon, buf);
 }
 
 void monitor_printf(Monitor *mon, const char *fmt, ...)
@@ -306,9 +307,8 @@ static void monitor_json_emitter(Monitor *mon, const QObject *data)
     json = qobject_to_json(data);
     assert(json != NULL);
 
-    mon->mc->print_enabled = 1;
-    monitor_printf(mon, "%s\n", qstring_get_str(json));
-    mon->mc->print_enabled = 0;
+    qstring_append_chr(json, '\n');
+    monitor_puts(mon, qstring_get_str(json));
 
     QDECREF(json);
 }