diff --git a/Source/cmGlobalNinjaGenerator.cxx b/Source/cmGlobalNinjaGenerator.cxx
index d58113c678..94483cad44 100644
--- a/Source/cmGlobalNinjaGenerator.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmGlobalNinjaGenerator.cxx
@@ -1009,7 +1009,7 @@ void cmGlobalNinjaGenerator::AddCXXCompileCommand(
     // Get a stream where to generate things.
     this->CompileCommandsStream =
       cm::make_unique<cmGeneratedFileStream>(buildFilePath);
-    *this->CompileCommandsStream << "[";
+    *this->CompileCommandsStream << "[\n";
   } else {
     *this->CompileCommandsStream << "," << std::endl;
   }
@@ -1021,7 +1021,7 @@ void cmGlobalNinjaGenerator::AddCXXCompileCommand(
   }
 
   /* clang-format off */
-  *this->CompileCommandsStream << "\n{\n"
+  *this->CompileCommandsStream << "{\n"
      << R"(  "directory": ")"
      << cmGlobalGenerator::EscapeJSON(buildFileDir) << "\",\n"
      << R"(  "command": ")"