diff --git a/lib/libalpm/alpm.h b/lib/libalpm/alpm.h
index 96e5e643..cfee19e0 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/alpm.h
+++ b/lib/libalpm/alpm.h
@@ -2987,6 +2987,9 @@ int alpm_sandbox_setup_child(alpm_handle_t *handle, const char *sandboxuser, con
 /* End of libalpm_api */
 /** @} */
 
+size_t alpm_info_print_pkg(const char *format, alpm_pkg_t *pkg);
+size_t alpm_info_print_pkgs(const char *format, alpm_list_t *pkgs);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/info.c b/lib/libalpm/info.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..097f6db1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/libalpm/info.c
@@ -0,0 +1,226 @@
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "alpm.h"
+#include "util.h"
+
+#include "mfmt.h"
+
+typedef enum field_t {
+  FILENAME,
+  NAME,
+  BASE,
+  DESCRIPTION,
+  VERSION,
+  ORIGIN,
+  REASON,
+  LICENSE,
+  GROUP,
+
+  DEPENDS,
+  OPTDEPENDS,
+  CONFLICTS,
+  PROVIDES,
+  REPLACES,
+  REQUIREDBY,
+
+  DELTAS,
+  FILES,
+  BACKUP,
+  DB,
+  VALIDATION,
+  URL,
+  BUILDDATE,
+  INSTALLDATE,
+  PACKAGER,
+  MD5SUM,
+  SHA256SUM,
+  ARCH,
+  SIZE,
+  ISIZE,
+  BASE64SIG,
+
+  UNKNOWN,
+} field_t;
+
+static struct field_map_t {
+  const char *input;
+  field_t field;
+} field_map[] = {
+  {"filename", FILENAME},
+  {"name", NAME},
+  {"base", BASE},
+  {"description", DESCRIPTION},
+  {"version", VERSION},
+
+  {"license", LICENSE},
+  {"group", GROUP},
+  {"groups", GROUP},
+
+  {"depends", DEPENDS},
+  {"optdepends", OPTDEPENDS},
+  {"conflicts", CONFLICTS},
+  {"provides", PROVIDES},
+  {"replaces", REPLACES},
+  {"requiredby", REQUIREDBY},
+
+  {"url", URL},
+  {"builddate", BUILDDATE},
+  {"installdate", INSTALLDATE},
+  {"packager", PACKAGER},
+  {"md5sum", MD5SUM},
+  {"sha256sum", SHA256SUM},
+  {"arch", ARCH},
+  {"size", SIZE},
+  {"isize", ISIZE},
+  {"base64sig", BASE64SIG},
+
+  {NULL, 0}
+};
+
+static char *_alpm_hr_size(off_t bytes, char *dest)
+{
+  static const char *suff[] = {"B", "K", "M", "G", "T", "P", "E", NULL};
+  float hrsize;
+  int s = 0;
+  while((bytes >= 1000000 || bytes <= -1000000) && suff[s + 1]) {
+    bytes /= 1024;
+    ++s;
+  }
+  hrsize = bytes;
+  if((hrsize >= 1000 || hrsize <= -1000) && suff[s + 1]) {
+    hrsize /= 1024;
+    ++s;
+  }
+  sprintf(dest, "%.2f %s", hrsize, suff[s]);
+  return dest;
+}
+
+static field_t _alpm_info_lookup_field(const char *name) {
+  struct field_map_t *m;
+  for(m = field_map; m->input; m++) {
+    if(strcmp(name, m->input) == 0) { return m->field; }
+  }
+  return UNKNOWN;
+}
+
+static size_t _alpm_info_print_str(mfmt_token_callback_t *t, const char *str, FILE *f) {
+  return mfmt_render_str(t, str ? str : "NULL", f);
+}
+
+static size_t _alpm_info_print_size(mfmt_token_callback_t *t, const off_t s, FILE *f) {
+  if(s) {
+    char hrsize[50];
+    if(t->conversion == 'd') {
+      snprintf(hrsize, 50, "%lld", (long long)s);
+    } else {
+      _alpm_hr_size(s, hrsize);
+    }
+    return mfmt_render_str(t, hrsize, f);
+  } else {
+    return mfmt_render_str(t, "NULL", f);
+  }
+}
+
+static size_t _alpm_info_print_strlist(mfmt_token_callback_t *t, alpm_list_t *l, FILE *f) {
+  if(l) {
+    size_t len = 0;
+    while(l) {
+      len += mfmt_render_str(t, l->data, f) + 1;
+      fputc('\n', f);
+      l = l->next;
+    }
+    return len;
+  } else {
+    return mfmt_render_str(t, "NULL", f);
+  }
+}
+
+static size_t _alpm_info_print_deplist(mfmt_token_callback_t *t, alpm_list_t *l, FILE *f) {
+  if(l) {
+    size_t len = 0;
+    while(l) {
+      char *s = alpm_dep_compute_string(l->data);
+      len += mfmt_render_str(t, s, f) + 1;
+      fputc('\n', f);
+      l = l->next;
+      free(s);
+    }
+    return len;
+  } else {
+    return mfmt_render_str(t, "NULL", f);
+  }
+}
+
+static size_t _alpm_info_print_timestamp(mfmt_token_callback_t *t, const alpm_time_t s, FILE *f) {
+  if(s) {
+    char datestr[50] = "";
+    if(strftime(datestr, 50, " %c", localtime(&s)) == 0) { return 0; }
+    return mfmt_render_str(t, datestr + 1, f);
+  } else {
+    return mfmt_render_str(t, "NULL", f);
+  }
+}
+
+static size_t _alpm_info_process_token(FILE *f, mfmt_token_callback_t *t, void *ctx, void *arg) {
+  alpm_pkg_t *p = arg;
+  (void)ctx;
+  switch(_alpm_info_lookup_field(t->name)) {
+    case NAME:        return _alpm_info_print_str(t, alpm_pkg_get_name(p), f);
+    case DESCRIPTION: return _alpm_info_print_str(t, alpm_pkg_get_desc(p), f);
+    case PACKAGER:    return _alpm_info_print_str(t, alpm_pkg_get_packager(p), f);
+    case MD5SUM:      return _alpm_info_print_str(t, alpm_pkg_get_md5sum(p), f);
+    case FILENAME:    return _alpm_info_print_str(t, alpm_pkg_get_filename(p), f);
+    case BASE:        return _alpm_info_print_str(t, alpm_pkg_get_base(p), f);
+    case VERSION:     return _alpm_info_print_str(t, alpm_pkg_get_version(p), f);
+    case URL:         return _alpm_info_print_str(t, alpm_pkg_get_url(p), f);
+    case SHA256SUM:   return _alpm_info_print_str(t, alpm_pkg_get_sha256sum(p), f);
+    case ARCH:        return _alpm_info_print_str(t, alpm_pkg_get_arch(p), f);
+    case BASE64SIG:   return _alpm_info_print_str(t, alpm_pkg_get_base64_sig(p), f);
+
+    case SIZE:  return _alpm_info_print_size(t, alpm_pkg_get_size(p), f);
+    case ISIZE: return _alpm_info_print_size(t, alpm_pkg_get_isize(p), f);
+
+    case BUILDDATE:   return _alpm_info_print_timestamp(t, alpm_pkg_get_builddate(p), f);
+    case INSTALLDATE: return _alpm_info_print_timestamp(t, alpm_pkg_get_installdate(p), f);
+
+    case DEPENDS:    return _alpm_info_print_deplist(t, alpm_pkg_get_depends(p), f);
+    case OPTDEPENDS: return _alpm_info_print_deplist(t, alpm_pkg_get_optdepends(p), f);
+    case CONFLICTS:  return _alpm_info_print_deplist(t, alpm_pkg_get_conflicts(p), f);
+    case PROVIDES:   return _alpm_info_print_deplist(t, alpm_pkg_get_provides(p), f);
+    case REPLACES:   return _alpm_info_print_deplist(t, alpm_pkg_get_replaces(p), f);
+    case REQUIREDBY: {
+                       alpm_list_t *rb = alpm_pkg_compute_requiredby(p);
+                       size_t len = _alpm_info_print_strlist(t, rb, f);
+                       FREELIST(rb);
+                       return len;
+                     }
+
+    default:          errno = EINVAL; return 0;
+  }
+}
+
+size_t SYMEXPORT alpm_info_print_pkg(const char *format, alpm_pkg_t *pkg) {
+  alpm_list_t l = {
+    .data = pkg,
+    .next = NULL,
+  };
+  l.prev = &l;
+  return alpm_info_print_pkgs(format, &l);
+}
+
+size_t SYMEXPORT alpm_info_print_pkgs(const char *format, alpm_list_t *pkgs) {
+  mfmt_t *mfmt = mfmt_parse(format, _alpm_info_process_token, NULL);
+  size_t len = 0;
+  if(mfmt == NULL) {
+    return 0;
+  }
+  for(alpm_list_t *i = pkgs; i; i = i->next) {
+    size_t plen = mfmt_printf(mfmt, i->data, stdout);
+    if(plen == 0) { return 0; }
+    len += plen;
+  }
+  return len;
+}
+
+/* vim: set ts=2 sw=2 et: */
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/meson.build b/lib/libalpm/meson.build
index c2c605f9..b0845e96 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/meson.build
+++ b/lib/libalpm/meson.build
@@ -31,5 +31,7 @@ libalpm_sources = files('''
   sync.h sync.c
   trans.h trans.c
   util.h util.c
+  info.c
+  mfmt.c mfmt.h
   version.c
 '''.split())
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/mfmt.c b/lib/libalpm/mfmt.c
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c55d3fd0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/libalpm/mfmt.c
@@ -0,0 +1,193 @@
+#define _GNU_SOURCE
+
+#include <errno.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+
+#include "mfmt.h"
+
+char *_mfmt_find_unescaped_char(char *haystack, char needle) {
+    while(1) {
+        haystack = strchrnul(haystack, needle);
+        if(*haystack && *(haystack + 1) == needle) { haystack += 2; continue; }
+        else { break; }
+    }
+    return haystack;
+}
+
+void _mfmt_brace_dedup(char *str) {
+    char *c = str, *end = str + strlen(str);
+    while((c = strchr(c, '{'))) {
+        memmove(c, c + 1, end - c);
+        c++;
+    }
+
+    c = str;
+    while((c = strchr(c, '}'))) {
+        memmove(c, c + 1, end - c);
+        c++;
+    }
+}
+
+mfmt_t *mfmt_parse(const char *tmpl, mfmt_callback_t *cb, void *ctx) {
+    mfmt_t *mfmt;
+    char *c;
+
+    mfmt = calloc(sizeof(mfmt_t), 1);
+    if(mfmt == NULL) { return NULL; }
+
+    mfmt->cb = cb;
+    mfmt->ctx = ctx;
+
+    for(c = (char*) tmpl; c && *c; ) {
+        mfmt->token_count++;
+        if(*c == '{' && *(c + 1) != '{') {
+            /* replacement */
+            if(!*(c = _mfmt_find_unescaped_char(c + 1, '}'))) {
+                errno = EINVAL;
+                free(mfmt);
+                return NULL;
+            } else {
+                c++;
+            }
+        } else {
+            /* literal */
+            c = _mfmt_find_unescaped_char(c, '{');
+        }
+    }
+
+    if((mfmt->tokens = calloc(sizeof(mfmt_token_t), mfmt->token_count)) == NULL) {
+        free(mfmt);
+        return NULL;
+    }
+
+    size_t i;
+    for(c = (char*) tmpl, i = 0; c && *c; i++) {
+        if(*c == '{' && *(c + 1) != '{') {
+            /* replacement */
+            mfmt_token_callback_t *t = &mfmt->tokens[i].callback;
+            char *end = _mfmt_find_unescaped_char(c + 1, '}');
+            t->type = MFMT_TOKEN_CALLBACK;
+            t->name = strndup(c + 1, end - c - 1);
+            c = end + 1;
+        } else {
+            /* literal */
+            char *end = _mfmt_find_unescaped_char(c, '{');
+            mfmt_token_literal_t *t = &mfmt->tokens[i].literal;
+            t->type = MFMT_TOKEN_LITERAL;
+            t->string = strndup(c, end - c);
+            _mfmt_brace_dedup(t->string);
+            c = end;
+        }
+    }
+
+    return mfmt;
+}
+
+size_t mfmt_printf(mfmt_t *mfmt, void *args, FILE *f) {
+    size_t len = 0;
+    size_t i;
+    for(i = 0; i < mfmt->token_count; i++) {
+        mfmt_token_t *t = &mfmt->tokens[i];
+        switch(t->base.type) {
+            case MFMT_TOKEN_LITERAL:
+                len += fputs(t->literal.string, f);
+                break;
+            case MFMT_TOKEN_CALLBACK:
+                len += mfmt->cb(f, &t->callback, mfmt->ctx, args);
+                break;
+            default:
+                errno = EINVAL;
+                return 0;
+        }
+    }
+    return len;
+}
+
+static size_t _mfmt_printf_close(mfmt_t *mfmt, void *args, FILE *f) {
+    if(f) {
+        size_t len = mfmt_printf(mfmt, args, f);
+        fclose(f);
+        return len;
+    }
+    return -1;
+}
+
+size_t mfmt_printd(mfmt_t *mfmt, void *args, int fd) {
+    return _mfmt_printf_close(mfmt, args, fdopen(fd, "w"));
+}
+
+size_t mfmt_printb(mfmt_t *mfmt, void *args, char *buf, size_t buflen) {
+    return _mfmt_printf_close(mfmt, args, fmemopen(buf, buflen, "w"));
+}
+
+size_t mfmt_prints(mfmt_t *mfmt, void *args, char **buf, size_t *buflen) {
+    return _mfmt_printf_close(mfmt, args, open_memstream(buf, buflen));
+}
+
+size_t mfmt_fmt(const char *tmpl, mfmt_val_t *args, FILE *f) {
+    mfmt_t *mfmt = mfmt_parse(tmpl, NULL, NULL);
+    size_t len;
+    for(size_t i = 0; i < mfmt->token_count; i++) {
+        mfmt_token_t *t = &mfmt->tokens[i];
+        switch(t->base.type) {
+            case MFMT_TOKEN_LITERAL:
+                len += fputs(t->literal.string, f);
+                break;
+            case MFMT_TOKEN_CALLBACK:
+                /* fprintf(stderr, "token: %s\n", t->callback.name); */
+                if(t->callback.name[0]) {
+                    for(mfmt_val_t *v = args; v; v++) {
+                        /* fprintf(stderr, "val: %s\n", v->name); */
+                        if(strcmp(v->name, t->callback.name) == 0) {
+                            len += fputs(v->string, f);
+                            break;
+                        }
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    len += fputs(args->string, f);
+                    args++;
+                }
+                break;
+        }
+    }
+    return len;
+}
+
+size_t mfmt_mfmt(mfmt_t *mfmt, mfmt_val_t *args, FILE *f) {
+    size_t len;
+    for(size_t i = 0; i < mfmt->token_count; i++) {
+        mfmt_token_t *t = &mfmt->tokens[i];
+        switch(t->base.type) {
+            case MFMT_TOKEN_LITERAL:
+                len += fputs(t->literal.string, f);
+                break;
+            case MFMT_TOKEN_CALLBACK:
+                /* fprintf(stderr, "token: %s\n", t->callback.name); */
+                if(t->callback.name[0]) {
+                    for(mfmt_val_t *v = args; v; v++) {
+                        /* fprintf(stderr, "val: %s\n", v->name); */
+                        if(strcmp(v->name, t->callback.name) == 0) {
+                            len += fputs(v->string, f);
+                            break;
+                        }
+                    }
+                } else {
+                    len += fputs(args->string, f);
+                    args++;
+                }
+                break;
+        }
+    }
+    return len;
+}
+
+size_t mfmt_render_int(mfmt_token_callback_t *t, const intmax_t i, FILE *f) {
+    (void)t;
+    return fprintf(f, "%jd", i);
+}
+
+size_t mfmt_render_str(mfmt_token_callback_t *t, const char *str, FILE *f) {
+    (void)t;
+    return fputs(str, f);
+}
diff --git a/lib/libalpm/mfmt.h b/lib/libalpm/mfmt.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2f90cdb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/libalpm/mfmt.h
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stddef.h>
+#include <inttypes.h>
+
+typedef enum mfmt_token_type_t {
+    MFMT_TOKEN_LITERAL,
+    MFMT_TOKEN_CALLBACK,
+} mfmt_token_type_t;
+
+typedef struct mfmt_token_literal_t {
+    mfmt_token_type_t type;
+    char *string;
+} mfmt_token_literal_t;
+
+typedef struct mfmt_token_base_t {
+    mfmt_token_type_t type;
+} mfmt_token_base_t;
+
+typedef struct mfmt_token_callback_t {
+    mfmt_token_type_t type;
+
+    size_t position;
+    char *name;
+    size_t width;
+    size_t precision;
+    char align;
+    char fill;
+    char conversion;
+    int sign;
+} mfmt_token_callback_t;
+
+typedef union mfmt_token_t {
+    mfmt_token_base_t base;
+    mfmt_token_literal_t literal;
+    mfmt_token_callback_t callback;
+} mfmt_token_t;
+
+typedef size_t (mfmt_callback_t)(FILE *f, mfmt_token_callback_t *token, void *ctx, void *args);
+
+typedef struct mfmt_t {
+    mfmt_callback_t *cb;
+    void *ctx;
+    size_t token_count;
+    mfmt_token_t *tokens;
+} mfmt_t;
+
+typedef struct mfmt_val_t {
+    const char *name;
+    const char *string;
+} mfmt_val_t;
+
+mfmt_t *mfmt_parse(const char *tmpl, mfmt_callback_t *cb, void *ctx);
+size_t mfmt_printf(mfmt_t *mfmt, void *args, FILE *f);
+size_t mfmt_printd(mfmt_t *mfmt, void *args, int fd);
+size_t mfmt_printb(mfmt_t *mfmt, void *args, char *buf, size_t buflen);
+size_t mfmt_prints(mfmt_t *mfmt, void *args, char **buf, size_t *buflen);
+void mfmt_free(mfmt_t *mfmt);
+
+size_t mfmt_render_int(mfmt_token_callback_t *token, intmax_t i, FILE *f);
+size_t mfmt_render_uint(mfmt_token_callback_t *token, uintmax_t i, FILE *f);
+size_t mfmt_render_str(mfmt_token_callback_t *token, const char *str, FILE *f);
+
+size_t mfmt_formatf(const char *tmpl, mfmt_callback_t *cb, void *ctx, FILE *f);
+size_t mfmt_formatd(const char *tmpl, mfmt_callback_t *cb, void *ctx, int fd);
+size_t mfmt_formatb(const char *tmpl, mfmt_callback_t *cb, void *ctx, char *buf, size_t buflen);
+size_t mfmt_formats(const char *tmpl, mfmt_callback_t *cb, void *ctx, char **buf);
diff --git a/src/pacman/conf.h b/src/pacman/conf.h
index 2c4fddf0..7f7d14a5 100644
--- a/src/pacman/conf.h
+++ b/src/pacman/conf.h
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ typedef struct __config_t {
 	unsigned short disable_dl_timeout;
 	unsigned short disable_sandbox;
 	char *print_format;
+	char *pformat;
 	/* unfortunately, we have to keep track of paths both here and in the library
 	 * because they can come from both the command line or config file, and we
 	 * need to ensure we get the order of preference right. */
@@ -175,6 +176,7 @@ enum {
 	OP_ASEXPLICIT,
 	OP_ARCH,
 	OP_PRINTFORMAT,
+	OP_PFORMAT,
 	OP_GPGDIR,
 	OP_DBONLY,
 	OP_FORCE,
diff --git a/src/pacman/pacman.c b/src/pacman/pacman.c
index 2866fc98..59d73e7f 100644
--- a/src/pacman/pacman.c
+++ b/src/pacman/pacman.c
@@ -684,6 +684,9 @@ static int parsearg_trans(int opt)
 			free(config->print_format);
 			config->print_format = strdup(optarg);
 			break;
+		case OP_PFORMAT:
+			config->pformat = strdup(optarg);
+			break;
 		case OP_ASSUMEINSTALLED:
 			parsearg_util_addlist(&(config->assumeinstalled));
 			break;
@@ -977,6 +980,7 @@ static int parseargs(int argc, char *argv[])
 		{"asexplicit",     no_argument,   0, OP_ASEXPLICIT},
 		{"arch",       required_argument, 0, OP_ARCH},
 		{"print-format", required_argument, 0, OP_PRINTFORMAT},
+		{"pformat"     , required_argument, 0, OP_PFORMAT},
 		{"gpgdir",     required_argument, 0, OP_GPGDIR},
 		{"dbonly",     no_argument,       0, OP_DBONLY},
 		{"color",      required_argument, 0, OP_COLOR},
diff --git a/src/pacman/util.c b/src/pacman/util.c
index 3b96568d..13c66040 100644
--- a/src/pacman/util.c
+++ b/src/pacman/util.c
@@ -1201,6 +1201,10 @@ double humanize_size(off_t bytes, const char target_unit, int precision,
 void print_packages(const alpm_list_t *packages)
 {
 	const alpm_list_t *i;
+	if(config->pformat) {
+		alpm_info_print_pkgs(config->pformat, (alpm_list_t*) packages);
+		return;
+	}
 	if(!config->print_format) {
 		config->print_format = strdup("%l");
 	}