--- a/cmds/jrsonnet/src/main.rs
+++ b/cmds/jrsonnet/src/main.rs
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 use clap::Clap;
 use jrsonnet_cli::{ConfigureState, GeneralOpts, InputOpts, ManifestOpts, OutputOpts};
-use jrsonnet_evaluator::{error::LocError, EvaluationState};
+use jrsonnet_evaluator::{error::LocError, EvaluationState, ManifestFormat};
 use std::{
 	fs::{create_dir_all, File},
 	io::Write,
@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@
 	opts.manifest.configure(&state)?;
 
 	let val = if opts.input.exec {
+		state.set_manifest_format(ManifestFormat::ToString);
 		state.evaluate_snippet_raw(
 			Rc::new(PathBuf::from("args")),
 			(&opts.input.input as &str).into(),
--- a/crates/jrsonnet-evaluator/src/val.rs
+++ b/crates/jrsonnet-evaluator/src/val.rs
@@ -201,6 +201,7 @@
 	YamlStream(Box<ManifestFormat>),
 	Yaml(usize),
 	Json(usize),
+	ToString,
 	String,
 }
 
@@ -357,6 +358,7 @@
 			}
 			ManifestFormat::Yaml(padding) => self.to_yaml(*padding)?,
 			ManifestFormat::Json(padding) => self.to_json(*padding)?,
+			ManifestFormat::ToString => self.to_string()?,
 			ManifestFormat::String => match self {
 				Self::Str(s) => s.clone(),
 				_ => throw!(StringManifestOutputIsNotAString),