diff --git a/cpp/src/io/json/write_json.cu b/cpp/src/io/json/write_json.cu
index 8a27558cde5..e1241f8f90c 100644
--- a/cpp/src/io/json/write_json.cu
+++ b/cpp/src/io/json/write_json.cu
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ struct escape_strings_fn {
                                               rmm::cuda_stream_view stream,
                                               rmm::device_async_resource_ref mr)
   {
-    if (column_v.is_empty()) { // empty begets empty
+    if (column_v.is_empty()) {  // empty begets empty
       return make_empty_column(type_id::STRING);
     }
     auto [offsets_column, chars] =