diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/list/cdk-cdk-ls-ci-no-synth-time-on-stdout.integtest.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/list/cdk-cdk-ls-ci-no-synth-time-on-stdout.integtest.ts
deleted file mode 100644
index c346830e1..000000000
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/list/cdk-cdk-ls-ci-no-synth-time-on-stdout.integtest.ts
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,22 +0,0 @@
-import { integTest, withDefaultFixture } from '../../../lib';
-
-integTest(
-  'cdk ls --json in CI does not print synthesis time to stdout',
-  withDefaultFixture(async (fixture) => {
-    // `cdk ls --json` stdout is a machine-readable contract and is often piped (e.g. to `jq`),
-    // so it must be only the stack listing, not status lines like "✨ Synthesis time: ...".
-    const listing = await fixture.cdk(['ls', '--json'], {
-      verbose: false, // fixture defaults verbose on; turn it off so stdout is just the listing
-      captureStderr: false, // capture stdout only; stderr is folded into the result by default
-      modEnv: { CI: 'true' }, // CI routes non-error output to stdout (default is stderr)
-    });
-
-    const lines = listing.trim().split('\n').filter(line => line.length > 0);
-
-    // every line should be a stack; a synth-time line would not carry the prefix
-    expect(lines.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
-    for (const line of lines) {
-      expect(line).toContain(fixture.stackNamePrefix);
-    }
-  }),
-);
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/list/cdk-cdk-ls-only-stack-listing.integtest.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/list/cdk-cdk-ls-only-stack-listing.integtest.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..650af13b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk-testing/cli-integ/tests/cli-integ-tests/list/cdk-cdk-ls-only-stack-listing.integtest.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import { integTest, withDefaultFixture } from '../../../lib';
+
+integTest(
+  'cdk ls prints only the stack listing, no status lines',
+  withDefaultFixture(async (fixture) => {
+    // `cdk ls` output should be the stack listing only, never status lines like the synth time
+    // or "Including dependency stacks". `*list-stacks` is selected because it pulls in a dependency.
+    for (const args of [['ls'], ['ls', `${fixture.stackNamePrefix}-list-stacks`]]) {
+      const output = await fixture.cdk(args, {
+        verbose: false,
+        modEnv: { CI: 'true' },
+      });
+
+      // no status lines
+      expect(output).not.toContain('Synthesis time');
+      expect(output).not.toContain('Including dependency stacks');
+
+      // every line should be a stack
+      const lines = output.trim().split('\n').filter(line => line.length > 0);
+      expect(lines.length).toBeGreaterThan(0);
+      for (const line of lines) {
+        expect(line).toContain(fixture.stackNamePrefix);
+      }
+    }
+  }),
+);
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli/cdk-toolkit.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli/cdk-toolkit.ts
index 8f35662f3..469c076db 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli/cdk-toolkit.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/lib/cli/cdk-toolkit.ts
@@ -966,17 +966,19 @@ export class CdkToolkit {
   ): Promise<number> {
     this.ioHost.rewriteOnce(IO.CDK_TOOLKIT_I2901, (msg) => formatStackList(msg.data.stacks, options));
 
-    // With `--json`, stdout must stay machine-parsable, so suppress the synth-time line (I1000).
-    if (options.json) {
-      this.ioHost.once(IO.CDK_TOOLKIT_I1000, () => ({ preventDefault: true }));
+    // Only the listing should reach stdout; drop info status lines (synth time, dependency notes).
+    const previousLevel = this.ioHost.logLevel;
+    this.ioHost.logLevel = 'warn';
+    try {
+      await this.toolkit.list(this.props.cloudExecutable, {
+        stacks: selectors.length > 0
+          ? { patterns: selectors, strategy: StackSelectionStrategy.PATTERN_MATCH, expand: ExpandStackSelection.UPSTREAM }
+          : undefined,
+      });
+    } finally {
+      this.ioHost.logLevel = previousLevel;
     }
 
-    await this.toolkit.list(this.props.cloudExecutable, {
-      stacks: selectors.length > 0
-        ? { patterns: selectors, strategy: StackSelectionStrategy.PATTERN_MATCH, expand: ExpandStackSelection.UPSTREAM }
-        : undefined,
-    });
-
     return 0; // exit-code
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/test/cli/cdk-toolkit.test.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/test/cli/cdk-toolkit.test.ts
index 48caf81bd..1ff1f9437 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/test/cli/cdk-toolkit.test.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/test/cli/cdk-toolkit.test.ts
@@ -216,33 +216,44 @@ describe('list', () => {
     ]);
   });
 
-  test('with --json, suppresses the synthesis-time line so stdout stays machine-parsable', async () => {
-    // `cdk ls --json` stdout is a machine-readable contract; the "Synthesis time" line
-    // (CDK_TOOLKIT_I1000) must not be written (in CI mode non-error output goes to stdout).
+  test('raises the log level to warn while listing, so info status lines are dropped', async () => {
+    // The "Synthesis time" line and "Including dependency stacks" line are info-level; while
+    // listing, the log level is raised to warn so they never reach stdout next to the listing.
     const toolkit = defaultToolkitSetup();
-    const onceSpy = jest.spyOn(ioHost, 'once');
+    let levelDuringList: string | undefined;
+    const listSpy = jest.spyOn(Toolkit.prototype, 'list').mockImplementation(async () => {
+      levelDuringList = ioHost.logLevel;
+      return [];
+    });
 
     // WHEN
-    await toolkit.list([], { json: true });
+    await toolkit.list([]);
 
-    // THEN - a one-shot suppressor for I1000 was registered that prevents default handling.
-    const i1000Call = onceSpy.mock.calls.find(([code]) => (code as any)?.code === 'CDK_TOOLKIT_I1000');
-    expect(i1000Call).toBeDefined();
-    const listener = i1000Call![1] as (msg: any) => any;
-    expect(listener({ code: 'CDK_TOOLKIT_I1000' })).toEqual({ preventDefault: true });
+    // THEN - info-level messages are filtered out during the listing
+    expect(levelDuringList).toEqual('warn');
+    listSpy.mockRestore();
   });
 
-  test('without --json, does not suppress the synthesis-time line', async () => {
-    // Plain `cdk ls` is not a machine-readable contract, so the line is left alone.
+  test('restores the previous log level after listing', async () => {
     const toolkit = defaultToolkitSetup();
-    const onceSpy = jest.spyOn(ioHost, 'once');
+    ioHost.logLevel = 'info';
 
     // WHEN
     await toolkit.list([]);
 
-    // THEN
-    const i1000Call = onceSpy.mock.calls.find(([code]) => (code as any)?.code === 'CDK_TOOLKIT_I1000');
-    expect(i1000Call).toBeUndefined();
+    // THEN - the temporary raise does not leak into later output (e.g. notices)
+    expect(ioHost.logLevel).toEqual('info');
+  });
+
+  test('restores the previous log level even if listing throws', async () => {
+    const toolkit = defaultToolkitSetup();
+    ioHost.logLevel = 'info';
+    const listSpy = jest.spyOn(Toolkit.prototype, 'list').mockRejectedValue(new Error('boom'));
+
+    // WHEN / THEN
+    await expect(toolkit.list([])).rejects.toThrow('boom');
+    expect(ioHost.logLevel).toEqual('info');
+    listSpy.mockRestore();
   });
 });