diff --git a/src/commands/deps.ts b/src/commands/deps.ts
index 5c25029..d5c66b4 100644
--- a/src/commands/deps.ts
+++ b/src/commands/deps.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,9 @@ export default defineCommand({
           consola.info("Example: pkg:npm/lodash@4.17.21");
           process.exit(1);
         }
-        consola.info(`No version specified, using latest: ${pkg.latestVersion}`);
+        if (!args.json) {
+          consola.info(`No version specified, using latest: ${pkg.latestVersion}`);
+        }
         const deps = await reg.fetchDependencies(name, pkg.latestVersion);
         outputDeps(name, pkg.latestVersion, deps, args.json);
         return;
diff --git a/test/unit/deps-command.test.ts b/test/unit/deps-command.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..384cc22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/deps-command.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+const { mockResolvePURL } = vi.hoisted(() => ({
+  mockResolvePURL: vi.fn(),
+}));
+
+vi.mock("../../src/commands/shared.ts", async (importOriginal) => {
+  const actual = await importOriginal<typeof import("../../src/commands/shared.ts")>();
+  return { ...actual, resolvePURL: mockResolvePURL };
+});
+
+import { runCommand } from "citty";
+import consola from "consola";
+import depsCommand from "../../src/commands/deps.ts";
+import type { Dependency } from "../../src/core/types.ts";
+
+const dependencies: Dependency[] = [
+  { name: "example-dependency", requirements: "^1.0.0", scope: "runtime", optional: false },
+];
+
+describe("deps command", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    mockResolvePURL.mockReturnValue([
+      {
+        fetchPackage: async () => ({ latestVersion: "2.0.0" }),
+        fetchDependencies: async () => dependencies,
+      },
+      "example",
+      "",
+    ]);
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    vi.restoreAllMocks();
+    mockResolvePURL.mockReset();
+  });
+
+  it("keeps JSON output parseable when the version is inferred", async () => {
+    const info = vi.spyOn(consola, "info").mockImplementation(() => undefined);
+    const output = vi.spyOn(console, "log").mockImplementation(() => undefined);
+
+    await runCommand(depsCommand, { rawArgs: ["pkg:test/example", "--json", "--no-cache"] });
+
+    const stdout = output.mock.calls.map(([value]) => String(value)).join("\n");
+    expect(JSON.parse(stdout)).toEqual(dependencies);
+    expect(info).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
+  it("keeps the inferred version notice in human output", async () => {
+    const info = vi.spyOn(consola, "info").mockImplementation(() => undefined);
+    vi.spyOn(consola, "log").mockImplementation(() => undefined);
+
+    await runCommand(depsCommand, { rawArgs: ["pkg:test/example", "--no-cache"] });
+
+    expect(info).toHaveBeenCalledWith("No version specified, using latest: 2.0.0");
+  });
+});