diff --git a/napalm/junos/junos.py b/napalm/junos/junos.py
index 4c8eb9f82..9c52b456c 100644
--- a/napalm/junos/junos.py
+++ b/napalm/junos/junos.py
@@ -2459,12 +2459,17 @@ def get_config(self, retrieve="all", full=False, sanitized=False, format="text")
         }
         if retrieve in ("candidate", "all"):
             config = self.device.rpc.get_config(filter_xml=None, options=options)
-            rv["candidate"] = str(config.text)
+            if options["format"] == "text":
+                rv["candidate"] = str(config.text)
+            else:
+                return str(config["configuration"])
         if retrieve in ("running", "all"):
             options["database"] = "committed"
             config = self.device.rpc.get_config(filter_xml=None, options=options)
-            rv["running"] = str(config.text)
-
+            if options["format"] == "text":
+                rv["candidate"] = str(config.text)
+            else:
+                return str(config["configuration"])
         if sanitized:
             return napalm.base.helpers.sanitize_configs(rv, sanitize_strings)