diff --git a/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation_test.go b/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation_test.go
index d9a33e71d57..7b65714e7b6 100644
--- a/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation_test.go
+++ b/pkg/kubelet/apis/config/validation/validation_test.go
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ func TestValidateKubeletConfiguration(t *testing.T) {
 			"GracefulNodeShutdown":    true,
 		},
 		Logging: componentbaseconfig.LoggingConfiguration{
-			Format: "json",
+			Format: "text",
 		},
 	}
 	if allErrors := ValidateKubeletConfiguration(successCase3); allErrors != nil {
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/logs/config.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/logs/config.go
index 55d28a6cdbd..8a029fa7cc5 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/logs/config.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/logs/config.go
@@ -22,10 +22,9 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
-	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 
 	"k8s.io/component-base/config"
-	json "k8s.io/component-base/logs/json"
+	"k8s.io/klog/v2"
 )
 
 // Supported klog formats
@@ -40,7 +39,6 @@ var LogRegistry = NewLogFormatRegistry()
 func init() {
 	// Text format is default klog format
 	LogRegistry.Register(DefaultLogFormat, nil)
-	LogRegistry.Register(JSONLogFormat, json.JSONLogger)
 }
 
 // List of logs (k8s.io/klog + k8s.io/component-base/logs) flags supported by all logging formats
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/logs/json/register/register_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/logs/json/register/register_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1ce3a71ad9f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/logs/json/register/register_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+/*
+Copyright 2021 The Kubernetes Authors.
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package register
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/pflag"
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/util/validation/field"
+	"k8s.io/component-base/config"
+	"k8s.io/component-base/logs"
+)
+
+func TestJSONFlag(t *testing.T) {
+	o := logs.NewOptions()
+	fs := pflag.NewFlagSet("addflagstest", pflag.ContinueOnError)
+	output := bytes.Buffer{}
+	o.AddFlags(fs)
+	fs.SetOutput(&output)
+	fs.PrintDefaults()
+	want := `      --experimental-logging-sanitization   [Experimental] When enabled prevents logging of fields tagged as sensitive (passwords, keys, tokens).
+                                            Runtime log sanitization may introduce significant computation overhead and therefore should not be enabled in production.
+      --logging-format string               Sets the log format. Permitted formats: "json", "text".
+                                            Non-default formats don't honor these flags: --add_dir_header, --alsologtostderr, --log_backtrace_at, --log_dir, --log_file, --log_file_max_size, --logtostderr, --one_output, --skip_headers, --skip_log_headers, --stderrthreshold, --vmodule, --log-flush-frequency.
+                                            Non-default choices are currently alpha and subject to change without warning. (default "text")
+`
+	if !assert.Equal(t, want, output.String()) {
+		t.Errorf("Wrong list of flags. expect %q, got %q", want, output.String())
+	}
+}
+
+func TestJSONFormatRegister(t *testing.T) {
+	testcases := []struct {
+		name string
+		args []string
+		want *logs.Options
+		errs field.ErrorList
+	}{
+		{
+			name: "JSON log format",
+			args: []string{"--logging-format=json"},
+			want: &logs.Options{
+				Config: config.LoggingConfiguration{
+					Format: logs.JSONLogFormat,
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name: "Unsupported log format",
+			args: []string{"--logging-format=test"},
+			want: &logs.Options{
+				Config: config.LoggingConfiguration{
+					Format: "test",
+				},
+			},
+			errs: field.ErrorList{&field.Error{
+				Type:     "FieldValueInvalid",
+				Field:    "format",
+				BadValue: "test",
+				Detail:   "Unsupported log format",
+			}},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testcases {
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			o := logs.NewOptions()
+			fs := pflag.NewFlagSet("addflagstest", pflag.ContinueOnError)
+			o.AddFlags(fs)
+			fs.Parse(tc.args)
+			if !assert.Equal(t, tc.want, o) {
+				t.Errorf("Wrong Validate() result for %q. expect %v, got %v", tc.name, tc.want, o)
+			}
+			errs := o.Validate()
+			if !assert.ElementsMatch(t, tc.errs, errs) {
+				t.Errorf("Wrong Validate() result for %q.\n expect:\t%+v\n got:\t%+v", tc.name, tc.errs, errs)
+
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/logs/options_test.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/logs/options_test.go
index 09b44bcef20..7be7cdb22cb 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/logs/options_test.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/component-base/logs/options_test.go
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ func TestFlags(t *testing.T) {
 	fs.PrintDefaults()
 	want := `      --experimental-logging-sanitization   [Experimental] When enabled prevents logging of fields tagged as sensitive (passwords, keys, tokens).
                                             Runtime log sanitization may introduce significant computation overhead and therefore should not be enabled in production.
-      --logging-format string               Sets the log format. Permitted formats: "json", "text".
+      --logging-format string               Sets the log format. Permitted formats: "text".
                                             Non-default formats don't honor these flags: --add_dir_header, --alsologtostderr, --log_backtrace_at, --log_dir, --log_file, --log_file_max_size, --logtostderr, --one_output, --skip_headers, --skip_log_headers, --stderrthreshold, --vmodule, --log-flush-frequency.
                                             Non-default choices are currently alpha and subject to change without warning. (default "text")
 `
@@ -61,15 +61,6 @@ func TestOptions(t *testing.T) {
 			args: []string{"--logging-format=text"},
 			want: NewOptions(),
 		},
-		{
-			name: "JSON log format",
-			args: []string{"--logging-format=json"},
-			want: &Options{
-				Config: config.LoggingConfiguration{
-					Format: JSONLogFormat,
-				},
-			},
-		},
 		{
 			name: "log sanitization",
 			args: []string{"--experimental-logging-sanitization"},