diff --git a/i3status.c b/i3status.c
index 88fb90e0..fe98178a 100644
--- a/i3status.c
+++ b/i3status.c
@@ -393,6 +393,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
         CFG_STR("format", "%usage", CFGF_NONE),
         CFG_STR("format_above_threshold", NULL, CFGF_NONE),
         CFG_STR("format_above_degraded_threshold", NULL, CFGF_NONE),
+        CFG_STR("format_usage", "%02d%s", CFGF_NONE),
         CFG_STR("path", "/proc/stat", CFGF_NONE),
         CFG_FLOAT("max_threshold", 95, CFGF_NONE),
         CFG_FLOAT("degraded_threshold", 90, CFGF_NONE),
@@ -922,6 +923,7 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                     .format = cfg_getstr(sec, "format"),
                     .format_above_threshold = cfg_getstr(sec, "format_above_threshold"),
                     .format_above_degraded_threshold = cfg_getstr(sec, "format_above_degraded_threshold"),
+                    .format_usage = cfg_getstr(sec, "format_usage"),
                     .path = cfg_getstr(sec, "path"),
                     .max_threshold = cfg_getfloat(sec, "max_threshold"),
                     .degraded_threshold = cfg_getfloat(sec, "degraded_threshold"),
diff --git a/include/i3status.h b/include/i3status.h
index fe44780b..6868104b 100644
--- a/include/i3status.h
+++ b/include/i3status.h
@@ -366,6 +366,7 @@ typedef struct {
     const char *format;
     const char *format_above_threshold;
     const char *format_above_degraded_threshold;
+    const char *format_usage;
     const char *path;
     const float max_threshold;
     const float degraded_threshold;
diff --git a/man/i3status.man b/man/i3status.man
index 725c27c6..bc0cd4eb 100644
--- a/man/i3status.man
+++ b/man/i3status.man
@@ -451,6 +451,9 @@ getting higher than the configured threshold. Defaults to 90. The output format
 when above degraded threshold can be customized with
 +format_above_degraded_threshold+.
 
+CPU usage is by default displayed as a percentage zero-padded to 2 digits. If
+you want the usage percentage to be shown in another format, use +format_usage+.
+
 For displaying the Nth CPU usage, you can use the %cpu<N> format string,
 starting from %cpu0. This feature is currently not supported in FreeBSD.
 
@@ -466,6 +469,8 @@ starting from %cpu0. This feature is currently not supported in FreeBSD.
 
 *Example format_above_degraded_threshold*: +Warning above degraded threshold: %usage+
 
+*Example format_usage*: +"%02d%s"+
+
 === Memory
 
 Gets the memory usage from system on a Linux system from +/proc/meminfo+. Other
diff --git a/src/print_cpu_usage.c b/src/print_cpu_usage.c
index a7ee2e46..818f5aa8 100644
--- a/src/print_cpu_usage.c
+++ b/src/print_cpu_usage.c
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ void print_cpu_usage(cpu_usage_ctx_t *ctx) {
             *(outwalk++) = *walk;
 
         } else if (BEGINS_WITH(walk + 1, "usage")) {
-            outwalk += sprintf(outwalk, "%02d%s", diff_usage, pct_mark);
+            outwalk += sprintf(outwalk, ctx->format_usage, diff_usage, pct_mark);
             walk += strlen("usage");
         }
 #if defined(__linux__)
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ void print_cpu_usage(cpu_usage_ctx_t *ctx) {
                 int cpu_diff_idle = curr_cpus[number].idle - prev_cpus[number].idle;
                 int cpu_diff_total = curr_cpus[number].total - prev_cpus[number].total;
                 int cpu_diff_usage = (cpu_diff_total ? (1000 * (cpu_diff_total - cpu_diff_idle) / cpu_diff_total + 5) / 10 : 0);
-                outwalk += sprintf(outwalk, "%02d%s", cpu_diff_usage, pct_mark);
+                outwalk += sprintf(outwalk, ctx->format_usage, cpu_diff_usage, pct_mark);
             }
             walk += length;
         }