diff --git a/.changeset/wise-cameras-yawn.md b/.changeset/wise-cameras-yawn.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8543a436cab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/wise-cameras-yawn.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/file-reporter": minor
+---
+
+Logs will be added as they are created instead of all at once at the end. Prevents memory exceeded errors if there are too many logs.
diff --git a/packages/file-reporter/src/index.ts b/packages/file-reporter/src/index.ts
index fd7dc4b25db..589600d2041 100644
--- a/packages/file-reporter/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/file-reporter/src/index.ts
@@ -4,49 +4,40 @@ import fs from 'graceful-fs'
 const LOG_FILENAME = 'node_modules/.pnpm-debug.log'
 
 export default function (streamParser: Object) {
-  const logs: Object[] = []
+  let logNum = 0
+
+  // Clean up previous log files
+  if (fs.existsSync(LOG_FILENAME)) fs.unlinkSync(LOG_FILENAME)
+  if (fs.existsSync(path.basename(LOG_FILENAME))) fs.unlinkSync(path.basename(LOG_FILENAME))
 
   streamParser['on']('data', function (logObj: Object) {
-    if (isUsefulLog(logObj)) {
-      logs.push(logObj)
+    if (isUsefulLog(logObj) && global['writeDebugLogFile'] !== false) {
+      const msgobj = getMessageObj(logObj)
+      const prettyLogs = prettify(msgobj)
+      const jsonLogs = JSON.stringify(prettyLogs, null, 2) + '\n'
+      const dest = fs.existsSync(path.dirname(LOG_FILENAME)) ? LOG_FILENAME : path.basename(LOG_FILENAME)
+      fs.appendFileSync(dest, jsonLogs)
+      logNum++
     }
   })
 
   process.on('exit', (code: number) => {
     if (code === 0 || global['writeDebugLogFile'] === false) {
       // it might not exist, so it is OK if it fails
-      try {
-        fs.unlinkSync(LOG_FILENAME)
-      } catch (err) {}
-      return
+      if (fs.existsSync(LOG_FILENAME)) fs.unlinkSync(LOG_FILENAME)
+      if (fs.existsSync(path.basename(LOG_FILENAME))) fs.unlinkSync(path.basename(LOG_FILENAME))
     }
-
-    const prettyLogs = getPrettyLogs()
-    const jsonLogs = JSON.stringify(prettyLogs, null, 2)
-    // Don't create a node_modules directory if it does not exist
-    const dest = fs.existsSync(path.dirname(LOG_FILENAME))
-      ? LOG_FILENAME
-      : path.basename(LOG_FILENAME)
-    fs.writeFileSync(dest, jsonLogs, 'utf-8')
   })
 
-  function getPrettyLogs () {
-    const prettyLogs = {}
-    logs.forEach((logObj, i) => {
-      // eslint-disable-next-line
-      const key = `${i} ${logObj['level']} ${logObj['name']}`
-      const msgobj = getMessageObj(logObj)
-      prettyLogs[key] = prettify(msgobj)
-    })
-    return prettyLogs
-  }
-
   function getMessageObj (logobj: Object): Object {
-    const msgobj = {}
+    const msgobj: { [key: string]: string } = {}
     for (const key in logobj) {
       if (['time', 'hostname', 'pid', 'level', 'name'].includes(key)) continue
       msgobj[key] = logobj[key]
     }
+    const logLevel: string = logobj['level']
+    const logName: string = logobj['name']
+    msgobj.key = `${logNum} ${logLevel} ${logName}`
     return msgobj
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/file-reporter/test/fixture/1/stdout b/packages/file-reporter/test/fixture/1/stdout
index d3d9966885a..c9f8815d4d6 100644
--- a/packages/file-reporter/test/fixture/1/stdout
+++ b/packages/file-reporter/test/fixture/1/stdout
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 {
-  "0 info pnpm": "foo",
-  "1 warn pnpm": {
-    "foo": 1,
-    "bar": 2
-  }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+  "message": "foo",
+  "key": "0 info pnpm"
+}
+{
+  "foo": 1,
+  "bar": 2,
+  "key": "1 warn pnpm"
+}