diff --git a/vl.c b/vl.c
index d352d18..939ee87 100644
--- a/vl.c
+++ b/vl.c
@@ -1562,6 +1562,9 @@
         exit(1);
     }
 
+    if (qemu_opt_get_bool(opts, "pretty", 0))
+        flags |= MONITOR_USE_PRETTY;
+
     if (qemu_opt_get_bool(opts, "default", 0))
         flags |= MONITOR_IS_DEFAULT;