diff --git a/src/libstore/build/derivation-goal.cc b/src/libstore/build/derivation-goal.cc
index ef1135601..c49be5e79 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build/derivation-goal.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build/derivation-goal.cc
@@ -1207,12 +1207,14 @@ void DerivationGoal::handleChildOutput(int fd, std::string_view data)
     if (hook && fd == hook->fromHook.readSide.get()) {
         for (auto c : data)
             if (c == '\n') {
-                auto s = handleJSONLogMessage(currentHookLine, worker.act, hook->activities, true);
-                if (s && !isWrittenToLog && logSink) {
-                    auto json = nlohmann::json::parse(std::string(currentHookLine, 5));
-                    if (json["type"] == resBuildLogLine) {
-                        auto f = json["fields"];
-                        (*logSink)((f.size() > 0 ? f.at(0).get<std::string>() : "") + "\n");
+                auto json = parseJSONMessage(currentHookLine);
+                if (json) {
+                    auto s = handleJSONLogMessage(*json, worker.act, hook->activities, true);
+                    if (s && !isWrittenToLog && logSink) {
+                        if ((*json)["type"] == resBuildLogLine) {
+                            auto f = (*json)["fields"];
+                            (*logSink)((f.size() > 0 ? f.at(0).get<std::string>() : "") + "\n");
+                        }
                     }
                 }
                 currentHookLine.clear();
diff --git a/src/libutil/logging.cc b/src/libutil/logging.cc
index 74ee2f063..cb2b15b41 100644
--- a/src/libutil/logging.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/logging.cc
@@ -266,51 +266,63 @@ static Logger::Fields getFields(nlohmann::json & json)
     return fields;
 }
 
-bool handleJSONLogMessage(const std::string & msg,
-    const Activity & act, std::map<ActivityId, Activity> & activities, bool trusted)
+std::optional<nlohmann::json> parseJSONMessage(const std::string & msg)
 {
-    if (!hasPrefix(msg, "@nix ")) return false;
-
+    if (!hasPrefix(msg, "@nix ")) return std::nullopt;
     try {
-        auto json = nlohmann::json::parse(std::string(msg, 5));
-
-        std::string action = json["action"];
-
-        if (action == "start") {
-            auto type = (ActivityType) json["type"];
-            if (trusted || type == actFileTransfer)
-                activities.emplace(std::piecewise_construct,
-                    std::forward_as_tuple(json["id"]),
-                    std::forward_as_tuple(*logger, (Verbosity) json["level"], type,
-                        json["text"], getFields(json["fields"]), act.id));
-        }
-
-        else if (action == "stop")
-            activities.erase((ActivityId) json["id"]);
-
-        else if (action == "result") {
-            auto i = activities.find((ActivityId) json["id"]);
-            if (i != activities.end())
-                i->second.result((ResultType) json["type"], getFields(json["fields"]));
-        }
-
-        else if (action == "setPhase") {
-            std::string phase = json["phase"];
-            act.result(resSetPhase, phase);
-        }
-
-        else if (action == "msg") {
-            std::string msg = json["msg"];
-            logger->log((Verbosity) json["level"], msg);
-        }
-
+        return nlohmann::json::parse(std::string(msg, 5));
     } catch (std::exception & e) {
         printError("bad JSON log message from builder: %s", e.what());
     }
+    return std::nullopt;
+}
+
+bool handleJSONLogMessage(nlohmann::json & json,
+    const Activity & act, std::map<ActivityId, Activity> & activities,
+    bool trusted)
+{
+    std::string action = json["action"];
+
+    if (action == "start") {
+        auto type = (ActivityType) json["type"];
+        if (trusted || type == actFileTransfer)
+            activities.emplace(std::piecewise_construct,
+                std::forward_as_tuple(json["id"]),
+                std::forward_as_tuple(*logger, (Verbosity) json["level"], type,
+                    json["text"], getFields(json["fields"]), act.id));
+    }
+
+    else if (action == "stop")
+        activities.erase((ActivityId) json["id"]);
+
+    else if (action == "result") {
+        auto i = activities.find((ActivityId) json["id"]);
+        if (i != activities.end())
+            i->second.result((ResultType) json["type"], getFields(json["fields"]));
+    }
+
+    else if (action == "setPhase") {
+        std::string phase = json["phase"];
+        act.result(resSetPhase, phase);
+    }
+
+    else if (action == "msg") {
+        std::string msg = json["msg"];
+        logger->log((Verbosity) json["level"], msg);
+    }
 
     return true;
 }
 
+bool handleJSONLogMessage(const std::string & msg,
+    const Activity & act, std::map<ActivityId, Activity> & activities, bool trusted)
+{
+    auto json = parseJSONMessage(msg);
+    if (!json) return false;
+
+    return handleJSONLogMessage(*json, act, activities, trusted);
+}
+
 Activity::~Activity()
 {
     try {
diff --git a/src/libutil/logging.hh b/src/libutil/logging.hh
index bd28036ae..9ab2091c7 100644
--- a/src/libutil/logging.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/logging.hh
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
 #include "error.hh"
 #include "config.hh"
 
+#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
+
 namespace nix {
 
 typedef enum {
@@ -166,6 +168,12 @@ Logger * makeSimpleLogger(bool printBuildLogs = true);
 
 Logger * makeJSONLogger(Logger & prevLogger);
 
+std::optional<nlohmann::json> parseJSONMessage(const std::string & msg);
+
+bool handleJSONLogMessage(nlohmann::json & json,
+    const Activity & act, std::map<ActivityId, Activity> & activities,
+    bool trusted);
+
 bool handleJSONLogMessage(const std::string & msg,
     const Activity & act, std::map<ActivityId, Activity> & activities,
     bool trusted);