diff --git a/src/cppcheck.cpp b/src/cppcheck.cpp
index 9f767c759..7ab820ecd 100644
--- a/src/cppcheck.cpp
+++ b/src/cppcheck.cpp
@@ -35,7 +35,6 @@
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 CppCheck::CppCheck(ErrorLogger &errorLogger)
-        : ErrorLogger(errorLogger)
 {
     _errorLogger = &errorLogger;
 }
@@ -196,12 +195,6 @@ std::string CppCheck::parseFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
             }
         }
 
-        // Use visual studio compliant output format
-        else if (strcmp(argv[i], "--output-format=VS") == 0)
-        {
-            _settings._outputFormat = "file(line)";
-        }
-
         // auto deallocated classes..
         else if (strcmp(argv[i], "--auto-dealloc") == 0)
         {
@@ -301,7 +294,6 @@ std::string CppCheck::parseFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
         "                         several paths. First given path is checked first. If\n"
         "                         paths are relative to source files, this is not needed\n"
         "    -j [jobs]            Start [jobs] threads to do the checking simultaneously.\n"
-        "    --output-format=VS   Use Visual Studio compliant output format.\n"
         "    -q, --quiet          Only print error messages\n"
         "    -s, --style          Check coding style\n"
         "    --unused-functions   Check if there are unused functions\n"
@@ -332,7 +324,6 @@ std::string CppCheck::parseFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
 
 unsigned int CppCheck::check()
 {
-    _errorLogger->outputFormat(_settings._outputFormat);
     _checkUnusedFunctions.setErrorLogger(this);
     std::sort(_filenames.begin(), _filenames.end());
     for (unsigned int c = 0; c < _filenames.size(); c++)
@@ -464,7 +455,7 @@ Settings CppCheck::settings() const
 
 void CppCheck::reportErr(const ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage &msg)
 {
-    std::string errmsg = toText(msg);
+    std::string errmsg = msg.toText();
 
     // Alert only about unique errors
     if (std::find(_errorList.begin(), _errorList.end(), errmsg) != _errorList.end())
diff --git a/src/cppcheckexecutor.cpp b/src/cppcheckexecutor.cpp
index f436804a2..3707b807d 100644
--- a/src/cppcheckexecutor.cpp
+++ b/src/cppcheckexecutor.cpp
@@ -112,6 +112,6 @@ void CppCheckExecutor::reportErr(const ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage &msg)
     }
     else
     {
-        reportErr(toText(msg));
+        reportErr(msg.toText());
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/errorlogger.cpp b/src/errorlogger.cpp
index f56998a1e..e5c316075 100644
--- a/src/errorlogger.cpp
+++ b/src/errorlogger.cpp
@@ -158,14 +158,14 @@ std::string ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage::toXML() const
     return xml.str();
 }
 
-std::string ErrorLogger::toText(const ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage &msg) const
+std::string ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage::toText() const
 {
     std::ostringstream text;
-    if (!msg._callStack.empty())
-        text << callStackToString(msg._callStack) << ": ";
-    if (!msg._severity.empty())
-        text << "(" << msg._severity << ") ";
-    text << msg._msg;
+    if (!_callStack.empty())
+        text << callStackToString(_callStack) << ": ";
+    if (!_severity.empty())
+        text << "(" << _severity << ") ";
+    text << _msg;
     return text.str();
 }
 
@@ -191,30 +191,13 @@ void ErrorLogger::_writemsg(const Tokenizer *tokenizer, const std::list<const To
 }
 
 
-static void replace(std::string &s, const std::string &s1, const std::string &s2)
-{
-    std::string::size_type pos = s.find(s1);
-    if (pos == std::string::npos)
-        return;
-    s.erase(pos, s1.length());
-    s.insert(pos, s2);
-}
 
 
-std::string ErrorLogger::callStackToString(const std::list<ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage::FileLocation> &callStack) const
+std::string ErrorLogger::callStackToString(const std::list<ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage::FileLocation> &callStack)
 {
     std::ostringstream ostr;
     for (std::list<ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage::FileLocation>::const_iterator tok = callStack.begin(); tok != callStack.end(); ++tok)
-    {
-        if (tok != callStack.begin())
-            ostr << " -> ";
-        std::string s = _outputFormat;
-        replace(s, "file", (*tok).getfile());
-        std::ostringstream line;
-        line << (*tok).line;
-        replace(s, "line", line.str());
-        ostr << s;
-    }
+        ostr << (tok == callStack.begin() ? "" : " -> ") << "[" << (*tok).getfile() << ":" << (*tok).line << "]";
     return ostr.str();
 }
 
diff --git a/src/errorlogger.h b/src/errorlogger.h
index d6a81bbaa..8232118ca 100644
--- a/src/errorlogger.h
+++ b/src/errorlogger.h
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ public:
         static std::string getXMLHeader();
         static std::string getXMLFooter();
 
-        //std::string toText() const;
+        std::string toText() const;
         std::string serialize() const;
         bool deserialize(const std::string &data);
         std::list<FileLocation> _callStack;
@@ -72,17 +72,9 @@ public:
         std::string _id;
     };
 
-    ErrorLogger() : _outputFormat("[file:line]") { }
+    ErrorLogger() { }
     virtual ~ErrorLogger() { }
 
-    /** Change the output format */
-    void outputFormat(const std::string &of)
-    {
-        _outputFormat = of;
-    }
-
-    std::string toText(const ErrorMessage &msg) const;
-
     /**
      * Information about progress is directed here.
      * Override this to receive the progress messages.
@@ -342,12 +334,10 @@ public:
     }
 
 
-    std::string callStackToString(const std::list<ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage::FileLocation> &callStack) const;
+    static std::string callStackToString(const std::list<ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage::FileLocation> &callStack);
 
 private:
     void _writemsg(const Tokenizer *tokenizer, const Token *tok, const char severity[], const std::string &msg, const std::string &id);
     void _writemsg(const Tokenizer *tokenizer, const std::list<const Token *> &callstack, const char severity[], const std::string &msg, const std::string &id);
-
-    std::string _outputFormat;
 };
 #endif
diff --git a/src/settings.cpp b/src/settings.cpp
index e21c04290..087019b83 100644
--- a/src/settings.cpp
+++ b/src/settings.cpp
@@ -33,7 +33,6 @@ Settings::Settings()
     _security = false;
     _jobs = 1;
     _exitCode = 0;
-    _outputFormat = "[file:line]";
 }
 
 Settings::~Settings()
diff --git a/src/settings.h b/src/settings.h
index 2d569d667..2d5549c0a 100644
--- a/src/settings.h
+++ b/src/settings.h
@@ -50,9 +50,6 @@ public:
     /** write xml results */
     bool _xml;
 
-    /** output formatting */
-    std::string _outputFormat;
-
     /** Checking if there are unused functions */
     bool _unusedFunctions;
 
diff --git a/src/threadexecutor.cpp b/src/threadexecutor.cpp
index dbbfba4d4..3a4c83493 100644
--- a/src/threadexecutor.cpp
+++ b/src/threadexecutor.cpp
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 #endif
 
 ThreadExecutor::ThreadExecutor(const std::vector<std::string> &filenames, const Settings &settings, ErrorLogger &errorLogger)
-        : ErrorLogger(errorLogger), _filenames(filenames), _settings(settings), _errorLogger(errorLogger), _fileCount(0)
+        : _filenames(filenames), _settings(settings), _errorLogger(errorLogger), _fileCount(0)
 {
 
 }
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ bool ThreadExecutor::handleRead(unsigned int &result)
         msg.deserialize(buf);
 
         // Alert only about unique errors
-        std::string errmsg = toText(msg);
+        std::string errmsg = msg.toText();
         if (std::find(_errorList.begin(), _errorList.end(), errmsg) == _errorList.end())
         {
             _errorList.push_back(errmsg);
diff --git a/test/testcppcheck.cpp b/test/testcppcheck.cpp
index 643f3df95..c6edb17bc 100644
--- a/test/testcppcheck.cpp
+++ b/test/testcppcheck.cpp
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ private:
         loc.file = "ab/cd/../ef.h";
         errmsg._callStack.push_back(loc);
         ASSERT_EQUALS("<error file=\"ab/ef.h\" line=\"0\" id=\"\" severity=\"\" msg=\"\"/>", errmsg.toXML());
-        //ASSERT_EQUALS("[ab/ef.h:0]: ", errorLogger.toText(errmsg));
+        ASSERT_EQUALS("[ab/ef.h:0]: ", errmsg.toText());
     }
 
 };
diff --git a/test/testsuite.cpp b/test/testsuite.cpp
index 8144013d5..04c5d01ea 100644
--- a/test/testsuite.cpp
+++ b/test/testsuite.cpp
@@ -179,5 +179,5 @@ void TestFixture::reportOut(const std::string & /*outmsg*/)
 
 void TestFixture::reportErr(const ErrorLogger::ErrorMessage &msg)
 {
-    errout << toText(msg) << std::endl;
+    errout << msg.toText() << std::endl;
 }