diff --git a/src/App/FreeCADInit.py b/src/App/FreeCADInit.py
index 286e331ced..e0c001515c 100644
--- a/src/App/FreeCADInit.py
+++ b/src/App/FreeCADInit.py
@@ -909,6 +909,13 @@ class Scheme(IntEnum):
 
 App.Units.Scheme = Scheme
 
+class NumberFormat(IntEnum):
+    Default = 0
+    Fixed = 1
+    Scientific = 2
+
+App.Units.NumberFormat = NumberFormat
+
 class ScaleType(IntEnum):
     Other = -1
     NoScaling = 0
diff --git a/src/Base/QuantityPy.xml b/src/Base/QuantityPy.xml
index f1175a1a63..225cb3714e 100644
--- a/src/Base/QuantityPy.xml
+++ b/src/Base/QuantityPy.xml
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ Quantity(string) -- arbitrary mixture of numbers and chars defining a Quantity
           Following parameters are allowed:
           getValueAs('m/s')  # unit string to parse
           getValueAs(2.45,1) # translation value and unit signature
-          getValueAs(FreeCAD.Units.Pascal) # predefined standard units 
+          getValueAs(FreeCAD.Units.Pascal) # predefined standard units
           getValueAs(Qantity('N/m^2')) # a quantity
           getValueAs(Unit(0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0)) # a unit
         </UserDocu>
diff --git a/src/Base/QuantityPyImp.cpp b/src/Base/QuantityPyImp.cpp
index 7d0cf2eec0..84d0b4082c 100644
--- a/src/Base/QuantityPyImp.cpp
+++ b/src/Base/QuantityPyImp.cpp
@@ -628,15 +628,24 @@ void  QuantityPy::setFormat(Py::Dict arg)
     }
 
     if (arg.hasKey("NumberFormat")) {
-        Py::Char form(arg.getItem("NumberFormat"));
-        std::string fmtstr = static_cast<std::string>(Py::String(form));
-        if (fmtstr.size() != 1)
-            throw Py::ValueError("Invalid format character");
+        Py::Object item = arg.getItem("NumberFormat");
+        if (item.isNumeric()) {
+            int format = static_cast<int>(Py::Int(item));
+            if (format < 0 || format > QuantityFormat::Scientific)
+                throw Py::ValueError("Invalid format value");
+            fmt.format = static_cast<QuantityFormat::NumberFormat>(format);
+        }
+        else {
+            Py::Char form(item);
+            std::string fmtstr = static_cast<std::string>(Py::String(form));
+            if (fmtstr.size() != 1)
+                throw Py::ValueError("Invalid format character");
 
-        bool ok;
-        fmt.format = Base::QuantityFormat::toFormat(fmtstr[0], &ok);
-        if (!ok)
-            throw Py::ValueError("Invalid format character");
+            bool ok;
+            fmt.format = Base::QuantityFormat::toFormat(fmtstr[0], &ok);
+            if (!ok)
+                throw Py::ValueError("Invalid format character");
+        }
     }
 
     if (arg.hasKey("Denominator")) {
diff --git a/src/Mod/Test/UnitTests.py b/src/Mod/Test/UnitTests.py
index c3e2160b69..575f6f5680 100644
--- a/src/Mod/Test/UnitTests.py
+++ b/src/Mod/Test/UnitTests.py
@@ -110,9 +110,7 @@ class UnitBasicCases(unittest.TestCase):
             self.assertAlmostEqual(1, v.Value, msg="Failed with \"{0}\" scheme: {1} != 1 (delta: {2})".format(schemes[i], v.Value, self.delta), delta=self.delta)
 
         vacuum_permittivity = FreeCAD.Units.parseQuantity("1F/m")
-        format = vacuum_permittivity.Format
-        format["NumberFormat"] = "e" # scientific notation
-        vacuum_permittivity.Format = format
+        vacuum_permittivity.Format = {"NumberFormat" : FreeCAD.Units.NumberFormat.Scientific}
         for i in range(num):
             t = FreeCAD.Units.schemaTranslate(vacuum_permittivity, i)
             v = FreeCAD.Units.parseQuantity(t[0]).getValueAs("F/m")