diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/ProgressBar.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/ProgressBar.php
index 0c0a3fc254..0b64b18a1d 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/ProgressBar.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Helper/ProgressBar.php
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ class ProgressBar
     private $barChar;
     private $emptyBarChar = '-';
     private $progressChar = '>';
-    private $format = null;
+    private $format;
+    private $internalFormat;
     private $redrawFreq = 1;
 
     /**
@@ -43,7 +44,6 @@ class ProgressBar
     private $formatLineCount;
     private $messages;
     private $overwrite = true;
-    private $formatSetByUser = false;
 
     private static $formatters;
     private static $formats;
@@ -73,8 +73,6 @@ class ProgressBar
             }
         }
 
-        $this->setFormatInternal($this->determineBestFormat());
-
         $this->startTime = time();
     }
 
@@ -311,8 +309,8 @@ class ProgressBar
      */
     public function setFormat($format)
     {
-        $this->formatSetByUser = true;
-        $this->setFormatInternal($format);
+        $this->format = null;
+        $this->internalFormat = $format;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -338,10 +336,6 @@ class ProgressBar
 
         if (null !== $max) {
             $this->setMaxSteps($max);
-
-            if (!$this->formatSetByUser) {
-                $this->setFormatInternal($this->determineBestFormat());
-            }
         }
 
         $this->display();
@@ -438,6 +432,10 @@ class ProgressBar
             return;
         }
 
+        if (null === $this->format) {
+            $this->setRealFormat($this->internalFormat ?: $this->determineBestFormat());
+        }
+
         // these 3 variables can be removed in favor of using $this in the closure when support for PHP 5.3 will be dropped.
         $self = $this;
         $output = $this->output;
@@ -472,6 +470,10 @@ class ProgressBar
             return;
         }
 
+        if (null === $this->format) {
+            $this->setRealFormat($this->internalFormat ?: $this->determineBestFormat());
+        }
+
         $this->overwrite(str_repeat("\n", $this->formatLineCount));
     }
 
@@ -480,7 +482,7 @@ class ProgressBar
      *
      * @param string $format The format
      */
-    private function setFormatInternal($format)
+    private function setRealFormat($format)
     {
         // try to use the _nomax variant if available
         if (!$this->max && null !== self::getFormatDefinition($format.'_nomax')) {
diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tests/Helper/ProgressBarTest.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tests/Helper/ProgressBarTest.php
index dbcc6e2a8a..7d18c11847 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tests/Helper/ProgressBarTest.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Console/Tests/Helper/ProgressBarTest.php
@@ -106,25 +106,51 @@ class ProgressBarTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
         );
     }
 
-    public function testFormatWhenMaxInConstructAndInStart()
+    public function testFormat()
     {
+        $expected =
+            $this->generateOutput('  0/10 [>---------------------------]   0%').
+            $this->generateOutput(' 10/10 [============================] 100%').
+            $this->generateOutput(' 10/10 [============================] 100%')
+        ;
+
+        // max in construct, no format
         $bar = new ProgressBar($output = $this->getOutputStream(), 10);
         $bar->start();
         $bar->advance(10);
         $bar->finish();
 
         rewind($output->getStream());
-        $maxInConstruct = stream_get_contents($output->getStream());
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, stream_get_contents($output->getStream()));
 
+        // max in start, no format
         $bar = new ProgressBar($output = $this->getOutputStream());
         $bar->start(10);
         $bar->advance(10);
         $bar->finish();
 
         rewind($output->getStream());
-        $maxInStart = stream_get_contents($output->getStream());
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, stream_get_contents($output->getStream()));
 
-        $this->assertEquals($maxInStart, $maxInConstruct);
+        // max in construct, explicit format before
+        $bar = new ProgressBar($output = $this->getOutputStream(), 10);
+        $bar->setFormat('normal');
+        $bar->start();
+        $bar->advance(10);
+        $bar->finish();
+
+        rewind($output->getStream());
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, stream_get_contents($output->getStream()));
+
+        // max in start, explicit format before
+        $bar = new ProgressBar($output = $this->getOutputStream());
+        $bar->setFormat('normal');
+        $bar->start(10);
+        $bar->advance(10);
+        $bar->finish();
+
+        rewind($output->getStream());
+        $this->assertEquals($expected, stream_get_contents($output->getStream()));
     }
 
     public function testCustomizations()