diff --git a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/methods.c b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/methods.c
index a908e648d669..6a121574bfcc 100644
--- a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/methods.c
+++ b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/methods.c
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 #include "item_selection.h"
 #include "conversion_utils.h"
 #include "shape.h"
+#include "strfuncs.h"
 
 #include "methods.h"
 #include "alloc.h"
@@ -2533,6 +2534,10 @@ NPY_NO_EXPORT PyMethodDef array_methods[] = {
         (PyCFunction) array_complex,
         METH_VARARGS, NULL},
 
+    {"__format__",
+        (PyCFunction) array_format,
+        METH_VARARGS, NULL},
+
 #ifndef NPY_PY3K
     /*
      * While we could put these in `tp_sequence`, its' easier to define them
diff --git a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/strfuncs.c b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/strfuncs.c
index f7980ffe06c6..bb94eb9f305f 100644
--- a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/strfuncs.c
+++ b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/strfuncs.c
@@ -197,3 +197,31 @@ array_str(PyArrayObject *self)
     }
     return s;
 }
+
+NPY_NO_EXPORT PyObject *
+array_format(PyArrayObject *self, PyObject *args)
+{
+    PyObject *format;
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "O:__format__", &format))
+        return NULL;
+
+    /* 0d arrays - forward to the scalar type */
+    if (PyArray_NDIM(self) == 0) {
+        PyObject *item = PyArray_ToScalar(PyArray_DATA(self), self);
+        PyObject *res;
+
+        if (item == NULL) {
+            return NULL;
+        }
+        res = PyObject_Format(item, format);
+        Py_DECREF(item);
+        return res;
+    }
+    /* Everything else - use the builtin */
+    else {
+        return PyObject_CallMethod(
+            (PyObject *)&PyBaseObject_Type, "__format__", "OO",
+            (PyObject *)self, format
+        );
+    }
+}
diff --git a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/strfuncs.h b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/strfuncs.h
index 8e80897c2ccb..5dd661a20dc4 100644
--- a/numpy/core/src/multiarray/strfuncs.h
+++ b/numpy/core/src/multiarray/strfuncs.h
@@ -10,4 +10,7 @@ array_repr(PyArrayObject *self);
 NPY_NO_EXPORT PyObject *
 array_str(PyArrayObject *self);
 
+NPY_NO_EXPORT PyObject *
+array_format(PyArrayObject *self, PyObject *args);
+
 #endif
diff --git a/numpy/core/tests/test_multiarray.py b/numpy/core/tests/test_multiarray.py
index 92fc21b83b2b..b1a6fbe449bd 100644
--- a/numpy/core/tests/test_multiarray.py
+++ b/numpy/core/tests/test_multiarray.py
@@ -7013,6 +7013,37 @@ def test_null_inside_ustring_array_is_truthy(self):
         assert_(a)
 
 
+class TestFormat(object):
+
+    def test_0d(self):
+        a = np.array(np.pi)
+        assert_equal('{:0.3g}'.format(a), '3.14')
+        assert_equal('{:0.3g}'.format(a[()]), '3.14')
+
+    def test_1d_no_format(self):
+        a = np.array([np.pi])
+        assert_equal('{}'.format(a), str(a))
+
+    def test_1d_format(self):
+        # until gh-5543, ensure that the behaviour matches what it used to be
+        a = np.array([np.pi])
+
+        def ret_and_exc(f, *args, **kwargs):
+            try:
+                return f(*args, **kwargs), None
+            except Exception as e:
+                # exceptions don't compare equal, so return type and args
+                # which do
+                return None, (type(e), e.args)
+
+        # Could switch on python version here, but all we care about is
+        # that the behaviour hasn't changed
+        assert_equal(
+            ret_and_exc(object.__format__, a, '30'),
+            ret_and_exc('{:30}'.format, a)
+        )
+
+
 class TestCTypes(object):
 
     def test_ctypes_is_available(self):