diff --git a/Docs/Changelog_sm5.txt b/Docs/Changelog_sm5.txt
index 605c20658e..f0e3a0f295 100644
--- a/Docs/Changelog_sm5.txt
+++ b/Docs/Changelog_sm5.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ StepMania 5.0 $NEXT | 20110xyy
 
 2011/05/14
 ----------
+* [StepsDisplay] Added MeterFormatString metric. [AJ]
 * [MusicWheel] Added ShowSectionsInBPMSort and ShowSectionsInLengthSort metrics. [AJ]
 * [ScreenEvaluation] Stop the Bonus bars from overflowing in course modes. [AJ]
 * [Banner] Added ScrollMode and ScrollSortOrder metrics. [AJ]
diff --git a/Themes/_fallback/metrics.ini b/Themes/_fallback/metrics.ini
index 280fb4d344..298794735b 100644
--- a/Themes/_fallback/metrics.ini
+++ b/Themes/_fallback/metrics.ini
@@ -1286,6 +1286,7 @@ TicksSetCommand=
 #
 ShowMeter=false
 ZeroMeterString="0"
+MeterFormatString="%i"
 MeterX=0
 MeterY=0
 MeterOnCommand=
@@ -2009,6 +2010,7 @@ TicksOnCommand=shadowlength,0;
 TicksSetCommand=%function(self,param) self:diffuse(CustomDifficultyToColor(param.CustomDifficulty)) if param.Meter > 9 then self:glowshift() else self:stopeffect() end end
 ShowTicks=false
 ShowMeter=true
+MeterFormatString="%i"
 ZeroMeterString="?"
 MeterX=30
 MeterY=0
diff --git a/src/StepsDisplay.cpp b/src/StepsDisplay.cpp
index a42fb31831..7df5e6b930 100644
--- a/src/StepsDisplay.cpp
+++ b/src/StepsDisplay.cpp
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@ void StepsDisplay::Load( const RString &sMetricsGroup, const PlayerState *pPlaye
 	m_bShowAutogen.Load(m_sMetricsGroup,"ShowAutogen");
 	m_bShowStepsType.Load(m_sMetricsGroup,"ShowStepsType");
 	m_sZeroMeterString.Load(m_sMetricsGroup,"ZeroMeterString");
+	m_sMeterFormatString.Load(m_sMetricsGroup,"MeterFormatString");
 
 	m_sprFrame.Load( THEME->GetPathG(m_sMetricsGroup,"frame") );
 	m_sprFrame->SetName( "Frame" );
@@ -241,8 +242,7 @@ void StepsDisplay::SetInternal( const SetParams &params )
 		}
 		else
 		{
-			// todo: allow themer to specify a format string? -aj
-			const RString sMeter = ssprintf( "%i", params.iMeter );
+			const RString sMeter = ssprintf( m_sMeterFormatString.GetValue().c_str(), params.iMeter );
 			m_textMeter.SetText( sMeter );
 			m_textMeter.HandleMessage( msg );
 		}
diff --git a/src/StepsDisplay.h b/src/StepsDisplay.h
index ee266aace6..c3af3063a9 100644
--- a/src/StepsDisplay.h
+++ b/src/StepsDisplay.h
@@ -72,6 +72,7 @@ private:
 	ThemeMetric<bool>	m_bShowAutogen;
 	ThemeMetric<bool>	m_bShowStepsType;
 	ThemeMetric<RString>	m_sZeroMeterString;
+	ThemeMetric<RString>	m_sMeterFormatString;
 };
 
 #endif