diff --git a/scripts/bpf/trace.py b/scripts/bpf/trace.py
index e4b7985c6..5fa918694 100755
--- a/scripts/bpf/trace.py
+++ b/scripts/bpf/trace.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ from argparse import ArgumentParser
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from itertools import islice
 from typing import Dict, List, TypeVar
-import json
+import ijson
 import os
 import re
 import subprocess
@@ -168,21 +168,40 @@ class TraceEntry:
 class Trace:
     """Stores, parses, and prints out SPDK traces"""
     def __init__(self, file):
-        self._json = json.load(file)
+        self._parser = ijson.parse(file)
         self._objects = []
         self._argfmt = {TracepointArgument.TYPE_PTR: lambda a: f'0x{a:x}'}
-        self.tpoints = {t.id: t for t in self._parse_tpoints()}
-        self.tsc_rate = self._json['tsc_rate']
+        self.tpoints = {}
+        self._parse_defs()
 
-    def _parse_tpoints(self):
-        for tpoint in self._json.get('tpoints', []):
-            yield Tracepoint(
-                name=tpoint['name'], id=tpoint['id'],
+    def _parse_tpoints(self, tpoints):
+        for tpoint in tpoints:
+            tpoint_id = tpoint['id']
+            self.tpoints[tpoint_id] = Tracepoint(
+                name=tpoint['name'], id=tpoint_id,
                 new_object=tpoint['new_object'],
                 args=[TracepointArgument(name=a['name'],
                                          argtype=a['type'])
                       for a in tpoint.get('args', [])])
 
+    def _parse_defs(self):
+        builder = None
+        for prefix, event, value in self._parser:
+            # If we reach entries array, there are no more tracepoint definitions
+            if prefix == 'entries':
+                break
+            elif prefix == 'tsc_rate':
+                self.tsc_rate = value
+                continue
+
+            if (prefix, event) == ('tpoints', 'start_array'):
+                builder = ijson.ObjectBuilder()
+            if builder is not None:
+                builder.event(event, value)
+            if (prefix, event) == ('tpoints', 'end_array'):
+                self._parse_tpoints(builder.value)
+                builder = None
+
     def _parse_entry(self, entry):
         tpoint = self.tpoints[entry['tpoint']]
         obj = entry.get('object', {})
@@ -193,8 +212,15 @@ class Trace:
                           args={n.name: v for n, v in zip(tpoint.args, entry.get('args', []))})
 
     def _entries(self):
-        for entry in self._json.get('entries', []):
-            yield self._parse_entry(entry)
+        builder = None
+        for prefix, event, value in self._parser:
+            if (prefix, event) == ('entries.item', 'start_map'):
+                builder = ijson.ObjectBuilder()
+            if builder is not None:
+                builder.event(event, value)
+            if (prefix, event) == ('entries.item', 'end_map'):
+                yield self._parse_entry(builder.value)
+                builder = None
 
     def _annotate_args(self, entry):
         annotations = {}
diff --git a/scripts/pkgdep/arch.sh b/scripts/pkgdep/arch.sh
index 853c83bd2..5dcbdc30a 100755
--- a/scripts/pkgdep/arch.sh
+++ b/scripts/pkgdep/arch.sh
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ pacman -Sy --needed --noconfirm gcc make cmake cunit libaio openssl \
 pacman -Sy --needed --noconfirm python-pexpect python-pip libffi
 pip install configshell_fb
 pip install pyelftools
+pip install ijson
 # Additional dependencies for DPDK
 pacman -Sy --needed --noconfirm numactl nasm
 # Additional dependencies for ISA-L used in compression
diff --git a/scripts/pkgdep/debian.sh b/scripts/pkgdep/debian.sh
index 40149af15..9c07ca688 100755
--- a/scripts/pkgdep/debian.sh
+++ b/scripts/pkgdep/debian.sh
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ if ! pip3 install meson; then
 	apt-get install -y meson
 fi
 pip3 install pyelftools
+pip3 install ijson
 # Additional dependencies for SPDK CLI - not available on older Ubuntus
 apt-get install -y python3-configshell-fb python3-pexpect || echo \
 	"Note: Some SPDK CLI dependencies could not be installed."
diff --git a/scripts/pkgdep/rhel.sh b/scripts/pkgdep/rhel.sh
index 00c82c989..19abdf03f 100755
--- a/scripts/pkgdep/rhel.sh
+++ b/scripts/pkgdep/rhel.sh
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ yum install -y python3-pip
 pip3 install ninja
 pip3 install meson
 pip3 install pyelftools
+pip3 install ijson
 
 # Additional dependencies for SPDK CLI - not available in rhel and centos
 if ! echo "$ID $VERSION_ID" | grep -E -q 'rhel 7|centos 7'; then