diff --git a/src/cli/program/routes.ts b/src/cli/program/routes.ts
index b3a4e1f81..856b56556 100644
--- a/src/cli/program/routes.ts
+++ b/src/cli/program/routes.ts
@@ -3,13 +3,12 @@ import { getFlagValue, getPositiveIntFlagValue, getVerboseFlag, hasFlag } from "
 
 export type RouteSpec = {
   match: (path: string[]) => boolean;
-  loadPlugins?: boolean;
+  loadPlugins?: boolean | ((argv: string[]) => boolean);
   run: (argv: string[]) => Promise<boolean>;
 };
 
 const routeHealth: RouteSpec = {
   match: (path) => path[0] === "health",
-  loadPlugins: true,
   run: async (argv) => {
     const json = hasFlag(argv, "--json");
     const verbose = getVerboseFlag(argv, { includeDebug: true });
@@ -25,7 +24,8 @@ const routeHealth: RouteSpec = {
 
 const routeStatus: RouteSpec = {
   match: (path) => path[0] === "status",
-  loadPlugins: true,
+  // JSON mode omits the human-readable channel table, so skip expensive plugin preloading.
+  loadPlugins: (argv) => !hasFlag(argv, "--json"),
   run: async (argv) => {
     const json = hasFlag(argv, "--json");
     const deep = hasFlag(argv, "--deep");