diff --git a/command/commands.go b/command/commands.go
index 76831b38c0..a02cdda9b3 100644
--- a/command/commands.go
+++ b/command/commands.go
@@ -216,6 +216,7 @@ func initCommands(ui, serverCmdUi cli.Ui, runOpts *RunOptions) {
 			UI:          ui,
 			tokenHelper: runOpts.TokenHelper,
 			flagAddress: runOpts.Address,
+			client:      runOpts.Client,
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/command/format.go b/command/format.go
index 4e378c89cd..c4c55e00e9 100644
--- a/command/format.go
+++ b/command/format.go
@@ -69,20 +69,18 @@ var Formatters = map[string]Formatter{
 	"yml":   YamlFormatter{},
 }
 
-func format() string {
-	format := os.Getenv(EnvVaultFormat)
-	if format == "" {
-		format = "table"
-	}
-	return format
-}
-
 func Format(ui cli.Ui) string {
 	switch ui.(type) {
 	case *VaultUI:
 		return ui.(*VaultUI).format
 	}
-	return format()
+
+	format := os.Getenv(EnvVaultFormat)
+	if format == "" {
+		format = "table"
+	}
+
+	return format
 }
 
 // An output formatter for json output of an object
diff --git a/command/format_test.go b/command/format_test.go
index b97ca27315..c9478301fa 100644
--- a/command/format_test.go
+++ b/command/format_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package command
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
@@ -91,13 +92,13 @@ func Test_Format_Parsing(t *testing.T) {
 	}{
 		{
 			"format",
-			[]string{"-format", "json"},
+			[]string{"token", "renew", "-format", "json"},
 			"{",
 			0,
 		},
 		{
 			"format_bad",
-			[]string{"-format", "nope-not-real"},
+			[]string{"token", "renew", "-format", "nope-not-real"},
 			"Invalid output format",
 			1,
 		},
@@ -110,21 +111,24 @@ func Test_Format_Parsing(t *testing.T) {
 			client, closer := testVaultServer(t)
 			defer closer()
 
+			stdout := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+			stderr := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+			runOpts := &RunOptions{
+				Stdout: stdout,
+				Stderr: stderr,
+				Client: client,
+			}
+
 			// Login with the token so we can renew-self.
 			token, _ := testTokenAndAccessor(t, client)
 			client.SetToken(token)
 
-			ui, cmd := testTokenRenewCommand(t)
-			cmd.client = client
-
-			tc.args = setupEnv(tc.args)
-
-			code := cmd.Run(tc.args)
+			code := RunCustom(tc.args, runOpts)
 			if code != tc.code {
 				t.Errorf("expected %d to be %d", code, tc.code)
 			}
 
-			combined := ui.OutputWriter.String() + ui.ErrorWriter.String()
+			combined := stdout.String() + stderr.String()
 			if !strings.Contains(combined, tc.out) {
 				t.Errorf("expected %q to contain %q", combined, tc.out)
 			}
diff --git a/command/main.go b/command/main.go
index 3fd4134be4..9b52e622ae 100644
--- a/command/main.go
+++ b/command/main.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"text/tabwriter"
 
 	"github.com/fatih/color"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/vault/api"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/vault/command/token"
 	colorable "github.com/mattn/go-colorable"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/cli"
@@ -22,8 +23,7 @@ type VaultUI struct {
 
 // setupEnv parses args and may replace them and sets some env vars to known
 // values based on format options
-func setupEnv(args []string) []string {
-	var format string
+func setupEnv(args []string) (retArgs []string, format string) {
 	var nextArgFormat bool
 
 	for _, arg := range args {
@@ -65,10 +65,8 @@ func setupEnv(args []string) []string {
 	if format == "" {
 		format = "table"
 	}
-	// Put back into the env for later
-	os.Setenv(EnvVaultFormat, format)
 
-	return args
+	return args, format
 }
 
 type RunOptions struct {
@@ -76,6 +74,7 @@ type RunOptions struct {
 	Stdout      io.Writer
 	Stderr      io.Writer
 	Address     string
+	Client      *api.Client
 }
 
 func Run(args []string) int {
@@ -89,7 +88,8 @@ func RunCustom(args []string, runOpts *RunOptions) int {
 		runOpts = &RunOptions{}
 	}
 
-	args = setupEnv(args)
+	var format string
+	args, format = setupEnv(args)
 
 	// Don't use color if disabled
 	useColor := true
@@ -104,8 +104,6 @@ func RunCustom(args []string, runOpts *RunOptions) int {
 		runOpts.Stderr = os.Stderr
 	}
 
-	format := format()
-
 	// Only use colored UI if stdout is a tty, and not disabled
 	if useColor && format == "table" {
 		if f, ok := runOpts.Stdout.(*os.File); ok {
diff --git a/command/operator_unseal_test.go b/command/operator_unseal_test.go
index 7078b17cfc..b9b5c658af 100644
--- a/command/operator_unseal_test.go
+++ b/command/operator_unseal_test.go
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package command
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
@@ -147,7 +148,6 @@ func TestOperatorUnsealCommand_Run(t *testing.T) {
 
 func TestOperatorUnsealCommand_Format(t *testing.T) {
 	defer func() {
-		os.Setenv(EnvVaultFormat, "")
 		os.Setenv(EnvVaultCLINoColor, "")
 	}()
 
@@ -159,21 +159,28 @@ func TestOperatorUnsealCommand_Format(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Fatal(err)
 	}
 
-	ui, cmd := testOperatorUnsealCommand(t)
-	cmd.client = client
-	cmd.testOutput = ioutil.Discard
-
-	args := setupEnv([]string{"-format", "json"})
-
-	// Unseal with one key
-	code := cmd.Run(append(args, []string{
-		keys[0],
-	}...))
-	if exp := 0; code != exp {
-		t.Errorf("expected %d to be %d: %s", code, exp, ui.ErrorWriter.String())
+	stdout := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+	stderr := bytes.NewBuffer(nil)
+	runOpts := &RunOptions{
+		Stdout: stdout,
+		Stderr: stderr,
+		Client: client,
 	}
 
-	if !json.Valid(ui.OutputWriter.Bytes()) {
+	args, format := setupEnv([]string{"unseal", "-format", "json"})
+	if format != "json" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected %q, got %q", "json", format)
+	}
+
+	// Unseal with one key
+	code := RunCustom(append(args, []string{
+		keys[0],
+	}...), runOpts)
+	if exp := 0; code != exp {
+		t.Errorf("expected %d to be %d: %s", code, exp, stderr.String())
+	}
+
+	if !json.Valid(stdout.Bytes()) {
 		t.Error("expected output to be valid JSON")
 	}
 }