diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/issue-4948 b/changelog/unreleased/issue-4948
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..3fd350d0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/issue-4948
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+Enhancement: Format exit errors as JSON with --json
+
+Restic now prints any exit error messages as JSON when requested.
+
+https://github.com/restic/restic/issues/4948
+https://github.com/restic/restic/pull/4952
diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_version.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_version.go
index cd32e2470..daf984a85 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/cmd_version.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_version.go
@@ -25,17 +25,19 @@ Exit status is 1 if there was any error.
 	Run: func(_ *cobra.Command, _ []string) {
 		if globalOptions.JSON {
 			type jsonVersion struct {
-				Version   string `json:"version"`
-				GoVersion string `json:"go_version"`
-				GoOS      string `json:"go_os"`
-				GoArch    string `json:"go_arch"`
+				MessageType string `json:"message_type"` // version
+				Version     string `json:"version"`
+				GoVersion   string `json:"go_version"`
+				GoOS        string `json:"go_os"`
+				GoArch      string `json:"go_arch"`
 			}
 
 			jsonS := jsonVersion{
-				Version:   version,
-				GoVersion: runtime.Version(),
-				GoOS:      runtime.GOOS,
-				GoArch:    runtime.GOARCH,
+				MessageType: "version",
+				Version:     version,
+				GoVersion:   runtime.Version(),
+				GoOS:        runtime.GOOS,
+				GoArch:      runtime.GOARCH,
 			}
 
 			err := json.NewEncoder(globalOptions.stdout).Encode(jsonS)
diff --git a/cmd/restic/main.go b/cmd/restic/main.go
index 5818221a5..fda53ca0e 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/main.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/main.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"bufio"
 	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
@@ -102,6 +103,30 @@ func tweakGoGC() {
 	}
 }
 
+func printExitError(code int, message string) {
+	if globalOptions.JSON {
+		type jsonExitError struct {
+			MessageType string `json:"message_type"` // exit_error
+			Code        int    `json:"code"`
+			Message     string `json:"message"`
+		}
+
+		jsonS := jsonExitError{
+			MessageType: "exit_error",
+			Code:        code,
+			Message:     message,
+		}
+
+		err := json.NewEncoder(globalOptions.stderr).Encode(jsonS)
+		if err != nil {
+			Warnf("JSON encode failed: %v\n", err)
+			return
+		}
+	} else {
+		fmt.Fprintf(globalOptions.stderr, "%v\n", message)
+	}
+}
+
 func main() {
 	tweakGoGC()
 	// install custom global logger into a buffer, if an error occurs
@@ -131,21 +156,22 @@ func main() {
 		err = nil
 	}
 
+	var exitMessage string
 	switch {
 	case restic.IsAlreadyLocked(err):
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%v\nthe `unlock` command can be used to remove stale locks\n", err)
+		exitMessage = fmt.Sprintf("%v\nthe `unlock` command can be used to remove stale locks", err)
 	case err == ErrInvalidSourceData:
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Warning: %v\n", err)
+		exitMessage = fmt.Sprintf("Warning: %v", err)
 	case errors.IsFatal(err):
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%v\n", err)
+		exitMessage = err.Error()
 	case err != nil:
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "%+v\n", err)
+		exitMessage = fmt.Sprintf("%+v", err)
 
 		if logBuffer.Len() > 0 {
-			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "also, the following messages were logged by a library:\n")
+			exitMessage += "also, the following messages were logged by a library:\n"
 			sc := bufio.NewScanner(logBuffer)
 			for sc.Scan() {
-				fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, sc.Text())
+				exitMessage += fmt.Sprintln(sc.Text())
 			}
 		}
 	}
@@ -165,5 +191,9 @@ func main() {
 	default:
 		exitCode = 1
 	}
+
+	if exitCode != 0 {
+		printExitError(exitCode, exitMessage)
+	}
 	Exit(exitCode)
 }
diff --git a/doc/075_scripting.rst b/doc/075_scripting.rst
index fa7fa1b6e..90bf111d7 100644
--- a/doc/075_scripting.rst
+++ b/doc/075_scripting.rst
@@ -83,12 +83,33 @@ JSON output of most restic commands are documented here.
     list of allowed values is documented may be extended at any time.
 
 
+Exit errors
+-----------
+
+Fatal errors will result in a final JSON message on ``stderr`` before the process exits.
+It will hold the error message and the exit code.
+
+.. note::
+    Some errors cannot be caught and reported this way,
+    such as Go runtime errors or command line parsing errors.
+
++----------------------+-------------------------------------------+
+| ``message_type``     | Always "exit_error"                       |
++----------------------+-------------------------------------------+
+| ``code``             | Exit code (see above chart)               |
++----------------------+-------------------------------------------+
+| ``error``            | Error message                             |
++----------------------+-------------------------------------------+
+
 Output formats
 --------------
 
-Currently only the output on ``stdout`` is JSON formatted. Errors printed on ``stderr``
-are still printed as plain text messages. The generated JSON output uses one of the
-following two formats.
+Commands print their main JSON output on ``stdout``.
+The generated JSON output uses one of the following two formats.
+
+.. note::
+    Not all messages and errors have been converted to JSON yet.
+    Feel free to submit a pull request!
 
 Single JSON document
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
@@ -136,6 +157,8 @@ Status
 Error
 ^^^^^
 
+These errors are printed on ``stderr``.
+
 +----------------------+-------------------------------------------+
 | ``message_type``     | Always "error"                            |
 +----------------------+-------------------------------------------+
@@ -542,6 +565,8 @@ Status
 Error
 ^^^^^
 
+These errors are printed on ``stderr``.
+
 +----------------------+-------------------------------------------+
 | ``message_type``     | Always "error"                            |
 +----------------------+-------------------------------------------+
@@ -691,12 +716,14 @@ version
 
 The version command returns a single JSON object.
 
-+----------------+--------------------+
-| ``version``    | restic version     |
-+----------------+--------------------+
-| ``go_version`` | Go compile version |
-+----------------+--------------------+
-| ``go_os``      | Go OS              |
-+----------------+--------------------+
-| ``go_arch``    | Go architecture    |
-+----------------+--------------------+
++------------------+--------------------+
+| ``message_type`` | Always "version"   |
++------------------+--------------------+
+| ``version``      | restic version     |
++------------------+--------------------+
+| ``go_version``   | Go compile version |
++------------------+--------------------+
+| ``go_os``        | Go OS              |
++------------------+--------------------+
+| ``go_arch``      | Go architecture    |
++------------------+--------------------+