diff --git a/agent/agent.h b/agent/agent.h
index fb2adde79..23982626d 100644
--- a/agent/agent.h
+++ b/agent/agent.h
@@ -108,13 +108,8 @@ struct
      upon this timeout value.  */
   unsigned long pinentry_timeout;
 
-  /* Mode for the formatted passphrase option to use by pinentry.
-     Possible values are:
-       0 - Option is not shown (and off).
-       1 - Option is shown, off by default, and user can change it.
-       2 - Option is shown, on, and user cannot change it.
-       3 - Option is shown, on by default, and user can change it.  */
-  unsigned int pinentry_formatted_passphrase;
+  /* If set, then passphrase formatting is enabled in pinentry.  */
+  int pinentry_formatted_passphrase;
 
   /* The default and maximum TTL of cache entries. */
   unsigned long def_cache_ttl;     /* Default. */
diff --git a/agent/call-pinentry.c b/agent/call-pinentry.c
index 9842408ec..ed37363da 100644
--- a/agent/call-pinentry.c
+++ b/agent/call-pinentry.c
@@ -1029,16 +1029,6 @@ static gpg_error_t
 setup_formatted_passphrase (ctrl_t ctrl)
 {
   static const struct { const char *key, *help_id, *value; } tbl[] = {
-    /* TRANSLATORS: This is the text of an option (usually represented
-       by a checkbox) as used in pinentry.  */
-    { "label", "pinentry.formatted_passphrase.label",
-      N_("Format the passphrase") },
-    /* TRANSLATORS: This is the tooltip shown by pinentry when
-        hovering over the option for formatted passphrase.
-        The length is limited to about 900 characters.  */
-    { "tt",    "pinentry.formatted_passphrase.tooltip",
-      N_("Enable this option to make the passphrase easier readable by "
-         "grouping its characters.") },
     /* TRANSLATORS: This is a text shown by pinentry if the option
         for formatted passphrase is enabled.  The length is
         limited to about 900 characters.  */
@@ -1057,8 +1047,7 @@ setup_formatted_passphrase (ctrl_t ctrl)
 
   if (opt.pinentry_formatted_passphrase)
     {
-      snprintf (line, DIM(line), "OPTION formatted-passphrase=%d",
-                opt.pinentry_formatted_passphrase);
+      snprintf (line, DIM(line), "OPTION formatted-passphrase");
       rc = assuan_transact (entry_ctx, line, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL,
                             NULL);
       if (rc && gpg_err_code (rc) != GPG_ERR_UNKNOWN_OPTION)
diff --git a/agent/gpg-agent.c b/agent/gpg-agent.c
index edc21f4d9..30d7cebaa 100644
--- a/agent/gpg-agent.c
+++ b/agent/gpg-agent.c
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ static gpgrt_opt_t opts[] = {
   ARGPARSE_s_s (oPinentryInvisibleChar, "pinentry-invisible-char", "@"),
   ARGPARSE_s_u (oPinentryTimeout, "pinentry-timeout",
                 N_("|N|set the Pinentry timeout to N seconds")),
-  ARGPARSE_s_u (oPinentryFormattedPassphrase, "pinentry-formatted-passphrase",
+  ARGPARSE_s_n (oPinentryFormattedPassphrase, "pinentry-formatted-passphrase",
                 "@"),
   ARGPARSE_s_n (oAllowEmacsPinentry,  "allow-emacs-pinentry",
                 N_("allow passphrase to be prompted through Emacs")),
@@ -914,7 +914,7 @@ parse_rereadable_options (gpgrt_argparse_t *pargs, int reread)
       break;
     case oPinentryTimeout: opt.pinentry_timeout = pargs->r.ret_ulong; break;
     case oPinentryFormattedPassphrase:
-      opt.pinentry_formatted_passphrase = pargs->r.ret_ulong;
+      opt.pinentry_formatted_passphrase = 1;
       break;
 
     case oTpm2daemonProgram:
diff --git a/doc/gpg-agent.texi b/doc/gpg-agent.texi
index e83dc6268..a061283d6 100644
--- a/doc/gpg-agent.texi
+++ b/doc/gpg-agent.texi
@@ -465,25 +465,10 @@ user input.  The default value of 0 does not ask the pinentry to
 timeout, however a Pinentry may use its own default timeout value in
 this case.  A Pinentry may or may not honor this request.
 
-@item --pinentry-formatted-passphrase @var{n}
+@item --pinentry-formatted-passphrase
 @opindex pinentry-formatted-passphrase
-This option asks the Pinentry to use the mode @var{n} for passphrase
-formatting when asking the user for a new passphrase.
-Possible values are:
-@table @code
-@item 0
-Passphrase formatting is disabled.  The option to change it is not shown,
-so that the user cannot turn it on.  This is the default.
-@item 1
-Passphrase formatting is disabled.  The option to change it is shown, so
-that the user can turn it on.
-@item 2
-Passphrase formatting is enabled. The option to change it is shown, but
-disabled, so that the user cannot turn it off.
-@item 3
-Passphrase formatting is enabled.  The option to change it is shown, so
-that the user can turn it off.
-@end table
+This option asks the Pinentry to enable passphrase formatting when asking the
+user for a new passphrase and masking of the passphrase is turned off.
 
 If passphrase formatting is enabled, then all non-breaking space characters
 are stripped from the entered passphrase.  Passphrase formatting is mostly