diff --git a/ironfish-cli/src/commands/mempool/status.ts b/ironfish-cli/src/commands/mempool/status.ts
index 14bb320e1d..06067158c4 100644
--- a/ironfish-cli/src/commands/mempool/status.ts
+++ b/ironfish-cli/src/commands/mempool/status.ts
@@ -6,14 +6,16 @@ import { GetMempoolStatusResponse } from '@ironfish/sdk'
 import { Flags } from '@oclif/core'
 import blessed from 'blessed'
 import { IronfishCommand } from '../../command'
-import { RemoteFlags } from '../../flags'
+import { JsonFlags, RemoteFlags } from '../../flags'
 import * as ui from '../../ui'
 
 export default class Status extends IronfishCommand {
-  static description = 'Show the status of the Mempool'
+  static description = "show the mempool's status"
+  static enableJsonFlag = true
 
   static flags = {
     ...RemoteFlags,
+    ...JsonFlags,
     follow: Flags.boolean({
       char: 'f',
       default: false,
@@ -21,14 +23,15 @@ export default class Status extends IronfishCommand {
     }),
   }
 
-  async start(): Promise<void> {
+  async start(): Promise<unknown> {
     const { flags } = await this.parse(Status)
 
     if (!flags.follow) {
       const client = await this.connectRpc()
       const response = await client.mempool.getMempoolStatus()
       this.log(renderStatus(response.content))
-      this.exit(0)
+
+      return response.content
     }
 
     // Console log will create display issues with Blessed
diff --git a/ironfish-cli/src/commands/mempool/transactions.ts b/ironfish-cli/src/commands/mempool/transactions.ts
index a2d82b5829..70f3878cea 100644
--- a/ironfish-cli/src/commands/mempool/transactions.ts
+++ b/ironfish-cli/src/commands/mempool/transactions.ts
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ const parseMinMax = (input: string): MinMax | undefined => {
 }
 
 export class TransactionsCommand extends IronfishCommand {
-  static description = `List transactions in the mempool`
+  static description = `list mempool transactions`
 
   static flags = {
     ...RemoteFlags,