diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7b3ac31..3316ff0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 - Fix a bug where key permissions where being printed in decimal format instead
   of octal.
+- `wire inspect names` without `--json` will now correctly output names as a
+  newline separated string instead of always as a json list.
 
 ### Removed
 
diff --git a/crates/cli/src/main.rs b/crates/cli/src/main.rs
index 548f334..7e618d8 100644
--- a/crates/cli/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/cli/src/main.rs
@@ -140,8 +140,13 @@ async fn main() -> Result<()> {
                     }
                 }
                 cli::Inspection::Names => {
-                    serde_json::to_string(&get_hive_node_names(&location, modifiers).await?)
-                        .into_diagnostic()?
+                    let names = get_hive_node_names(&location, modifiers).await?;
+
+                    if json {
+                        serde_json::to_string(&names).into_diagnostic()?
+                    } else {
+                        names.join("\n")
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }),