diff --git a/awxkit/awxkit/cli/format.py b/awxkit/awxkit/cli/format.py
index be1a0e3722..0f593151f8 100644
--- a/awxkit/awxkit/cli/format.py
+++ b/awxkit/awxkit/cli/format.py
@@ -163,8 +163,8 @@ def format_human(output, fmt):
         try:
             return locale.format("%.*f", (0, int(v)), True)
         except (ValueError, TypeError):
-            if not isinstance(v, six.text_type):
-                return str(v)
+            if isinstance(v, (list, dict)):
+                return json.dumps(v)
             return v
 
     # calculate the max width of each column