diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/tmp-toolkit-helpers/src/api/diff/diff-formatter.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/tmp-toolkit-helpers/src/api/diff/diff-formatter.ts
index 9f5b50aac..b05b99427 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/tmp-toolkit-helpers/src/api/diff/diff-formatter.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/tmp-toolkit-helpers/src/api/diff/diff-formatter.ts
@@ -208,7 +208,7 @@ export class DiffFormatter {
     try {
       // must output the stack name if there are differences, even if quiet
       if (stackName && (!options.quiet || !diff.isEmpty)) {
-        stream.write(format('Stack %s\n', chalk.bold(stackName)));
+        stream.write(format(`Stack ${chalk.bold(stackName)}\n`));
       }
 
       if (!options.quiet && options.isImport) {
@@ -239,20 +239,19 @@ export class DiffFormatter {
           ...logicalIdMapFromTemplate(this.oldTemplate),
           ...buildLogicalToPathMap(this.newTemplate),
         }, options.context);
-
-        // store the stream containing a formatted stack diff
-        formattedDiff = stream.toString();
       } else if (!options.quiet) {
-        options.ioDefaultHelper.info(chalk.green('There were no differences'));
+        stream.write(chalk.green('There were no differences\n'));
+      }
+
+      if (filteredChangesCount > 0) {
+        stream.write(chalk.yellow(`Omitted ${filteredChangesCount} changes because they are likely mangled non-ASCII characters. Use --strict to print them.\n`));
       }
     } finally {
+      // store the stream containing a formatted stack diff
+      formattedDiff = stream.toString();
       stream.end();
     }
 
-    if (filteredChangesCount > 0) {
-      options.ioDefaultHelper.info(chalk.yellow(`Omitted ${filteredChangesCount} changes because they are likely mangled non-ASCII characters. Use --strict to print them.`));
-    }
-
     for (const nestedStackLogicalId of Object.keys(nestedStackTemplates ?? {})) {
       if (!nestedStackTemplates) {
         break;
@@ -285,18 +284,18 @@ export class DiffFormatter {
     const diff = fullDiff(this.oldTemplate, this.newTemplate.template, options.changeSet);
 
     if (diffRequiresApproval(diff, options.requireApproval)) {
-      ioDefaultHelper.info(format('Stack %s\n', chalk.bold(options.stackName)));
-
-      // eslint-disable-next-line max-len
-      ioDefaultHelper.warning(`This deployment will make potentially sensitive changes according to your current security approval level (--require-approval ${options.requireApproval}).`);
-      ioDefaultHelper.warning('Please confirm you intend to make the following modifications:\n');
-
       // The security diff is formatted via `Formatter`, which takes in a stream
       // and sends its output directly to that stream. To faciliate use of the
       // global CliIoHost, we create our own stream to capture the output of
       // `Formatter` and return the output as a string for the consumer of
       // `formatSecurityDiff` to decide what to do with it.
       const stream = new StringWriteStream();
+
+      stream.write(format(`Stack ${chalk.bold(options.stackName)}\n`));
+
+      // eslint-disable-next-line max-len
+      ioDefaultHelper.warning(`This deployment will make potentially sensitive changes according to your current security approval level (--require-approval ${options.requireApproval}).`);
+      ioDefaultHelper.warning('Please confirm you intend to make the following modifications:\n');
       try {
         // formatSecurityChanges updates the stream with the formatted security diff
         formatSecurityChanges(stream, diff, buildLogicalToPathMap(this.newTemplate));
diff --git a/packages/@aws-cdk/tmp-toolkit-helpers/test/api/diff/diff.test.ts b/packages/@aws-cdk/tmp-toolkit-helpers/test/api/diff/diff.test.ts
index e57827dee..945703004 100644
--- a/packages/@aws-cdk/tmp-toolkit-helpers/test/api/diff/diff.test.ts
+++ b/packages/@aws-cdk/tmp-toolkit-helpers/test/api/diff/diff.test.ts
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ describe('formatStackDiff', () => {
     } as any;
   });
 
-  test('returns no changes when templates are identical', () => {
+  test('returns no differences when templates are identical', () => {
     // WHEN
     const formatter = new DiffFormatter({
       ioHelper: mockIoHelper,
@@ -76,8 +76,12 @@ describe('formatStackDiff', () => {
 
     // THEN
     expect(result.numStacksWithChanges).toBe(0);
-    expect(result.formattedDiff).toBe('');
-    expect(mockIoDefaultMessages.info).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.stringContaining('no differences'));
+    expect(result.formattedDiff).toBeDefined();
+    const sanitizedDiff = result.formattedDiff!.replace(/\x1B\[[0-?]*[ -/]*[@-~]/g, '').trim();
+    expect(sanitizedDiff).toBe(
+      'Stack test-stack\n' +
+      'There were no differences',
+    );
   });
 
   test('formats differences when changes exist', () => {
@@ -256,6 +260,7 @@ describe('formatSecurityDiff', () => {
     expect(result.formattedDiff).toBeDefined();
     const sanitizedDiff = result.formattedDiff!.replace(/\x1B\[[0-?]*[ -/]*[@-~]/g, '').trim();
     expect(sanitizedDiff).toBe(
+      'Stack test-stack\n' +
       'IAM Statement Changes\n' +
       '┌───┬─────────────┬────────┬────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┬───────────┐\n' +
       '│   │ Resource    │ Effect │ Action         │ Principal                    │ Condition │\n' +
@@ -291,6 +296,7 @@ describe('formatSecurityDiff', () => {
     );
     const sanitizedDiff = result.formattedDiff!.replace(/\x1B\[[0-?]*[ -/]*[@-~]/g, '').trim();
     expect(sanitizedDiff).toBe(
+      'Stack test-stack\n' +
       'IAM Statement Changes\n' +
       '┌───┬─────────────┬────────┬────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┬───────────┐\n' +
       '│   │ Resource    │ Effect │ Action         │ Principal                    │ Condition │\n' +
diff --git a/packages/aws-cdk/test/commands/diff.test.ts b/packages/aws-cdk/test/commands/diff.test.ts
index 390252828..782c421f4 100644
--- a/packages/aws-cdk/test/commands/diff.test.ts
+++ b/packages/aws-cdk/test/commands/diff.test.ts
@@ -865,7 +865,7 @@ describe('nested stacks', () => {
     });
 
     // THEN
-    const plainTextOutput = notifySpy.mock.calls[1][0].message.replace(/\x1B\[[0-?]*[ -/]*[@-~]/g, '').replace(/[ \t]+$/gm, '');
+    const plainTextOutput = notifySpy.mock.calls[0][0].message.replace(/\x1B\[[0-?]*[ -/]*[@-~]/g, '').replace(/[ \t]+$/gm, '');
     expect(plainTextOutput.trim()).toEqual(`Stack Parent
 Resources
 [~] AWS::CloudFormation::Stack AdditionChild
@@ -906,7 +906,10 @@ Resources
 
 Stack newGrandChild
 Resources
-[+] AWS::Something SomeResource`);
+[+] AWS::Something SomeResource
+
+Stack UnChangedChild
+There were no differences`);
 
     expect(notifySpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({
       message: expect.stringContaining('✨  Number of stacks with differences: 6'),
@@ -926,7 +929,7 @@ Resources
     });
 
     // THEN
-    const plainTextOutput = notifySpy.mock.calls[2][0].message.replace(/\x1B\[[0-?]*[ -/]*[@-~]/g, '').replace(/[ \t]+$/gm, '');
+    const plainTextOutput = notifySpy.mock.calls[1][0].message.replace(/\x1B\[[0-?]*[ -/]*[@-~]/g, '').replace(/[ \t]+$/gm, '');
     expect(plainTextOutput.trim()).toEqual(`Stack Parent
 Resources
 [~] AWS::CloudFormation::Stack AdditionChild
@@ -967,7 +970,10 @@ Resources
 
 Stack newGrandChild
 Resources
-[+] AWS::Something SomeResource`);
+[+] AWS::Something SomeResource
+
+Stack UnChangedChild
+There were no differences`);
 
     expect(notifySpy).toHaveBeenCalledWith(expect.objectContaining({
       message: expect.stringContaining('✨  Number of stacks with differences: 6'),