diff --git a/core/src/main/java/cucumber/api/CucumberOptions.java b/core/src/main/java/cucumber/api/CucumberOptions.java
index 99c30ffa0a..20c59d1ed1 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/cucumber/api/CucumberOptions.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/cucumber/api/CucumberOptions.java
@@ -36,13 +36,6 @@
      */
     String[] tags() default {};
 
-    /**
-     * @return what formatter(s) to use
-     * @deprecated use {@link #plugin()}
-     */
-    @Deprecated
-    String[] format() default {};
-
     /**
      * @return what plugins(s) to use
      */
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/cucumber/runtime/RuntimeOptions.java b/core/src/main/java/cucumber/runtime/RuntimeOptions.java
index b482c1f2a4..147eb76291 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/cucumber/runtime/RuntimeOptions.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/cucumber/runtime/RuntimeOptions.java
@@ -155,9 +155,6 @@ private void parse(List<String> args) {
                 parsedTagFilters.add(args.remove(0));
             } else if (arg.equals("--plugin") || arg.equals("--add-plugin") || arg.equals("-p")) {
                 parsedPluginData.addPluginName(args.remove(0), arg.equals("--add-plugin"));
-            } else if (arg.equals("--format") || arg.equals("-f")) {
-                System.err.println("WARNING: Cucumber-JVM's --format option is deprecated. Please use --plugin instead.");
-                parsedPluginData.addPluginName(args.remove(0), true);
             } else if (arg.equals("--no-dry-run") || arg.equals("--dry-run") || arg.equals("-d")) {
                 dryRun = !arg.startsWith("--no-");
             } else if (arg.equals("--no-strict") || arg.equals("--strict") || arg.equals("-s")) {
diff --git a/core/src/main/java/cucumber/runtime/RuntimeOptionsFactory.java b/core/src/main/java/cucumber/runtime/RuntimeOptionsFactory.java
index 3ad54ff268..772e48d674 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/cucumber/runtime/RuntimeOptionsFactory.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/cucumber/runtime/RuntimeOptionsFactory.java
@@ -87,7 +87,6 @@ private void addTags(CucumberOptions options, List<String> args) {
     private void addPlugins(CucumberOptions options, List<String> args) {
         List<String> plugins = new ArrayList<String>();
         plugins.addAll(asList(options.plugin()));
-        plugins.addAll(asList(options.format()));
         for (String plugin : plugins) {
             args.add("--plugin");
             args.add(plugin);
diff --git a/core/src/main/resources/cucumber/api/cli/USAGE.txt b/core/src/main/resources/cucumber/api/cli/USAGE.txt
index f4941115af..f216f6cd1c 100644
--- a/core/src/main/resources/cucumber/api/cli/USAGE.txt
+++ b/core/src/main/resources/cucumber/api/cli/USAGE.txt
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ Options:
                                          registration of 3rd party plugins.
                                          --add-plugin does not clobber plugins of that 
                                          type defined from a different source.
-  -f, --format FORMAT[:PATH_OR_URL]      Deprecated. Use --plugin instead.
   -t, --tags TAG_EXPRESSION              Only run scenarios tagged with tags matching
                                          TAG_EXPRESSION.
   -n, --name REGEXP                      Only run scenarios whose names match REGEXP.
diff --git a/examples/java-calculator-testng/src/test/java/cucumber/examples/java/calculator/RunCukesByCompositionTest.java b/examples/java-calculator-testng/src/test/java/cucumber/examples/java/calculator/RunCukesByCompositionTest.java
index 86b8aa6f47..e3694a50da 100644
--- a/examples/java-calculator-testng/src/test/java/cucumber/examples/java/calculator/RunCukesByCompositionTest.java
+++ b/examples/java-calculator-testng/src/test/java/cucumber/examples/java/calculator/RunCukesByCompositionTest.java
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
  * AbstractTestNGCucumberTests but still executes each scenario as a separate
  * TestNG test.
  */
-@CucumberOptions(strict = true, format = "json:target/cucumber-report-feature-composite.json")
+@CucumberOptions(strict = true, plugin = "json:target/cucumber-report-feature-composite.json")
 public class RunCukesByCompositionTest extends RunCukesByCompositionBase {
     private TestNGCucumberRunner testNGCucumberRunner;