diff --git a/internal/consistency/diff/table_diff.go b/internal/consistency/diff/table_diff.go
index d5a3d77..7fd9e28 100644
--- a/internal/consistency/diff/table_diff.go
+++ b/internal/consistency/diff/table_diff.go
@@ -873,7 +873,6 @@ func (t *TableDiffTask) RunChecks(skipValidation bool) (err error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			return fmt.Errorf("failed to connect to node %s: %w", hostname, err)
 		}
-		defer conn.Close()
 
 		currCols, err := queries.GetColumns(t.Ctx, conn, schema, table)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -930,6 +929,8 @@ func (t *TableDiffTask) RunChecks(skipValidation bool) (err error) {
 		if t.TableFilter != "" {
 			logger.Info("Applying table filter for diff: %s", t.TableFilter)
 		}
+
+		conn.Close()
 	}
 
 	logger.Info("Connections successful to nodes in cluster")
@@ -1001,13 +1002,14 @@ func (t *TableDiffTask) cleanupFilteredView() {
 			logger.Warn("table-diff: failed to get connection for filtered view cleanup on node %s: %v", name, err)
 			continue
 		}
-		defer pool.Close()
 
 		if _, err := pool.Exec(t.Ctx, dropSQL); err != nil {
 			logger.Warn("table-diff: failed to drop filtered view %s.%s on node %s: %v", t.Schema, t.FilteredViewName, name, err)
 		} else {
 			logger.Info("table-diff: dropped filtered view %s.%s on node %s", t.Schema, t.FilteredViewName, name)
 		}
+
+		pool.Close()
 	}
 
 	t.FilteredViewCreated = false
diff --git a/pkg/common/utils.go b/pkg/common/utils.go
index a09d685..8116ab9 100644
--- a/pkg/common/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/common/utils.go
@@ -1216,15 +1216,22 @@ func WriteDiffReport(diffResult types.DiffOutput, schema, table, format string)
 	)
 	jsonFileName := outputPrefix + ".json"
 
-	jsonData, err := json.MarshalIndent(diffResult, "", "  ")
+	// Stream JSON directly to file — avoids holding a second full copy in memory
+	f, err := os.Create(jsonFileName)
 	if err != nil {
-		logger.Error("ERROR marshalling diff output to JSON: %v", err)
-		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("failed to marshal diffs: %w", err)
-	}
-
-	if err := os.WriteFile(jsonFileName, jsonData, 0644); err != nil {
-		logger.Error("ERROR writing diff output to file %s: %v", jsonFileName, err)
-		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("failed to write diffs file: %w", err)
+		logger.Error("ERROR creating diff output file %s: %v", jsonFileName, err)
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("failed to create diffs file: %w", err)
+	}
+	enc := json.NewEncoder(f)
+	enc.SetIndent("", "  ")
+	if err := enc.Encode(diffResult); err != nil {
+		logger.Error("ERROR writing diff output to JSON: %v", err)
+		f.Close()
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("failed to write diffs: %w", err)
+	}
+	if err := f.Close(); err != nil {
+		logger.Error("ERROR closing diff output file %s: %v", jsonFileName, err)
+		return "", "", fmt.Errorf("failed to close diffs file: %w", err)
 	}
 
 	logger.Warn("%s TABLES DO NOT MATCH", CrossMark)