diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bridge/Twig/Command/DebugCommand.php b/src/Symfony/Bridge/Twig/Command/DebugCommand.php
index 34dc160b3456..618dce76c5a7 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bridge/Twig/Command/DebugCommand.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bridge/Twig/Command/DebugCommand.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 namespace Symfony\Bridge\Twig\Command;
 
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Command\Command;
+use Symfony\Component\Console\Formatter\OutputFormatter;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputArgument;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\Console\Input\InputOption;
@@ -100,6 +101,7 @@ protected function configure()
     protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
     {
         $io = new SymfonyStyle($input, $output);
+        $decorated = $io->isDecorated();
 
         // BC to be removed in 4.0
         if (__CLASS__ !== \get_class($this)) {
@@ -114,29 +116,35 @@ protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
             throw new \RuntimeException('The Twig environment needs to be set.');
         }
 
+        $filter = $input->getArgument('filter');
         $types = ['functions', 'filters', 'tests', 'globals'];
 
         if ('json' === $input->getOption('format')) {
             $data = [];
             foreach ($types as $type) {
                 foreach ($this->twig->{'get'.ucfirst($type)}() as $name => $entity) {
-                    $data[$type][$name] = $this->getMetadata($type, $entity);
+                    if (!$filter || false !== strpos($name, $filter)) {
+                        $data[$type][$name] = $this->getMetadata($type, $entity);
+                    }
                 }
             }
-            $data['tests'] = array_keys($data['tests']);
+
+            if (isset($data['tests'])) {
+                $data['tests'] = array_keys($data['tests']);
+            }
+
             $data['loader_paths'] = $this->getLoaderPaths();
-            $io->writeln(json_encode($data));
+            $data = json_encode($data, JSON_PRETTY_PRINT);
+            $io->writeln($decorated ? OutputFormatter::escape($data) : $data);
 
             return 0;
         }
 
-        $filter = $input->getArgument('filter');
-
         foreach ($types as $index => $type) {
             $items = [];
             foreach ($this->twig->{'get'.ucfirst($type)}() as $name => $entity) {
                 if (!$filter || false !== strpos($name, $filter)) {
-                    $items[$name] = $name.$this->getPrettyMetadata($type, $entity);
+                    $items[$name] = $name.$this->getPrettyMetadata($type, $entity, $decorated);
                 }
             }
 
@@ -262,7 +270,7 @@ private function getMetadata($type, $entity)
         }
     }
 
-    private function getPrettyMetadata($type, $entity)
+    private function getPrettyMetadata($type, $entity, $decorated)
     {
         if ('tests' === $type) {
             return '';
@@ -274,7 +282,7 @@ private function getPrettyMetadata($type, $entity)
                 return '(unknown?)';
             }
         } catch (\UnexpectedValueException $e) {
-            return ' <error>'.$e->getMessage().'</error>';
+            return sprintf(' <error>%s</error>', $decorated ? OutputFormatter::escape($e->getMessage()) : $e->getMessage());
         }
 
         if ('globals' === $type) {
@@ -282,7 +290,9 @@ private function getPrettyMetadata($type, $entity)
                 return ' = object('.\get_class($meta).')';
             }
 
-            return ' = '.substr(@json_encode($meta), 0, 50);
+            $description = substr(@json_encode($meta), 0, 50);
+
+            return sprintf(' = %s', $decorated ? OutputFormatter::escape($description) : $description);
         }
 
         if ('functions' === $type) {
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Bridge/Twig/Tests/Command/DebugCommandTest.php b/src/Symfony/Bridge/Twig/Tests/Command/DebugCommandTest.php
index a3569b5602d7..3b9e479da079 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Bridge/Twig/Tests/Command/DebugCommandTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Bridge/Twig/Tests/Command/DebugCommandTest.php
@@ -62,7 +62,45 @@ public function testLineSeparatorInLoaderPaths()
         $this->assertContains($loaderPaths, trim($tester->getDisplay(true)));
     }
 
-    private function createCommandTester(array $paths = [])
+    public function testWithGlobals()
+    {
+        $message = '<error>foo</error>';
+        $tester = $this->createCommandTester([], ['message' => $message]);
+        $tester->execute([], ['decorated' => true]);
+
+        $display = $tester->getDisplay();
+
+        $this->assertContains(\json_encode($message), $display);
+    }
+
+    public function testWithGlobalsJson()
+    {
+        $globals = ['message' => '<error>foo</error>'];
+
+        $tester = $this->createCommandTester([], $globals);
+        $tester->execute(['--format' => 'json'], ['decorated' => true]);
+
+        $display = $tester->getDisplay();
+        $display = \json_decode($display, true);
+
+        $this->assertSame($globals, $display['globals']);
+    }
+
+    public function testWithFilter()
+    {
+        $tester = $this->createCommandTester([]);
+        $tester->execute(['--format' => 'json'], ['decorated' => false]);
+        $display = $tester->getDisplay();
+        $display1 = \json_decode($display, true);
+
+        $tester->execute(['filter' => 'date', '--format' => 'json'], ['decorated' => false]);
+        $display = $tester->getDisplay();
+        $display2 = \json_decode($display, true);
+
+        $this->assertNotSame($display1, $display2);
+    }
+
+    private function createCommandTester(array $paths = [], array $globals = [])
     {
         $filesystemLoader = new FilesystemLoader([], \dirname(__DIR__).'/Fixtures');
         foreach ($paths as $namespace => $relDirs) {
@@ -70,7 +108,13 @@ private function createCommandTester(array $paths = [])
                 $filesystemLoader->addPath($relDir, $namespace);
             }
         }
-        $command = new DebugCommand(new Environment($filesystemLoader));
+
+        $environment = new Environment($filesystemLoader);
+        foreach ($globals as $name => $value) {
+            $environment->addGlobal($name, $value);
+        }
+
+        $command = new DebugCommand($environment);
 
         $application = new Application();
         $application->add($command);
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tester/CommandTester.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tester/CommandTester.php
index f869995eb92d..a1d8ad70a124 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tester/CommandTester.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tester/CommandTester.php
@@ -87,6 +87,10 @@ public function execute(array $input, array $options = [])
      */
     public function getDisplay($normalize = false)
     {
+        if (null === $this->output) {
+            throw new \RuntimeException('Output not initialized, did you execute the command before requesting the display?');
+        }
+
         rewind($this->output->getStream());
 
         $display = stream_get_contents($this->output->getStream());