On second thought, `--json` implying `--exact` may have been a bad decision on my part (bfcd5e153a15eb63c761426a0f2fc7efd9d71376). Users could always specify `--exact` otherwise, although it might take a few surprises to realize such.
Should `--json` continue to imply `--exact`, I have a hard time coming up with a satisfactory option (or a combination of options) to enable the behavior requested here, which is pretty reasonable. This is part of the reason for wanting to revert bfcd5e153a15eb63c761426a0f2fc7efd9d71376.
I'll leave the decision to @jarun.