diff --git a/src/bin/bench.rs b/src/bin/bench.rs
index 1aa82dd9f87..a621e591c62 100644
--- a/src/bin/bench.rs
+++ b/src/bin/bench.rs
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ Options:
     -v, --verbose ...            Use verbose output (-vv very verbose/build.rs output)
     -q, --quiet                  No output printed to stdout
     --color WHEN                 Coloring: auto, always, never
-    --message-format FMT         Error format: human, json [default: human]
+    --message-format FMT         Error format: human, json, short [default: human]
     --no-fail-fast               Run all benchmarks regardless of failure
     --frozen                     Require Cargo.lock and cache are up to date
     --locked                     Require Cargo.lock is up to date
diff --git a/src/bin/build.rs b/src/bin/build.rs
index 883e30db6b1..3b8e4a3aea2 100644
--- a/src/bin/build.rs
+++ b/src/bin/build.rs
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ Options:
     -v, --verbose ...            Use verbose output (-vv very verbose/build.rs output)
     -q, --quiet                  No output printed to stdout
     --color WHEN                 Coloring: auto, always, never
-    --message-format FMT         Error format: human, json [default: human]
+    --message-format FMT         Error format: human, json, short [default: human]
     --frozen                     Require Cargo.lock and cache are up to date
     --locked                     Require Cargo.lock is up to date
     -Z FLAG ...                  Unstable (nightly-only) flags to Cargo
diff --git a/src/bin/check.rs b/src/bin/check.rs
index 8a2ab42dd22..2ca217e43eb 100644
--- a/src/bin/check.rs
+++ b/src/bin/check.rs
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ Options:
     -v, --verbose ...            Use verbose output
     -q, --quiet                  No output printed to stdout
     --color WHEN                 Coloring: auto, always, never
-    --message-format FMT         Error format: human, json [default: human]
+    --message-format FMT         Error format: human, json, short [default: human]
     --frozen                     Require Cargo.lock and cache are up to date
     --locked                     Require Cargo.lock is up to date
     -Z FLAG ...                  Unstable (nightly-only) flags to Cargo
diff --git a/src/bin/doc.rs b/src/bin/doc.rs
index 6e17836963c..2566f4eb5cf 100644
--- a/src/bin/doc.rs
+++ b/src/bin/doc.rs
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ Options:
     -v, --verbose ...            Use verbose output (-vv very verbose/build.rs output)
     -q, --quiet                  No output printed to stdout
     --color WHEN                 Coloring: auto, always, never
-    --message-format FMT         Error format: human, json [default: human]
+    --message-format FMT         Error format: human, json, short [default: human]
     --frozen                     Require Cargo.lock and cache are up to date
     --locked                     Require Cargo.lock is up to date
     -Z FLAG ...                  Unstable (nightly-only) flags to Cargo
diff --git a/src/bin/run.rs b/src/bin/run.rs
index 21486baf6ea..360b2a2e57d 100644
--- a/src/bin/run.rs
+++ b/src/bin/run.rs
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ Options:
     -v, --verbose ...            Use verbose output (-vv very verbose/build.rs output)
     -q, --quiet                  No output printed to stdout
     --color WHEN                 Coloring: auto, always, never
-    --message-format FMT         Error format: human, json [default: human]
+    --message-format FMT         Error format: human, json, short [default: human]
     --frozen                     Require Cargo.lock and cache are up to date
     --locked                     Require Cargo.lock is up to date
     -Z FLAG ...                  Unstable (nightly-only) flags to Cargo
diff --git a/src/bin/rustc.rs b/src/bin/rustc.rs
index 747f2ead958..8335c6a9a91 100644
--- a/src/bin/rustc.rs
+++ b/src/bin/rustc.rs
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ Options:
     -v, --verbose ...        Use verbose output (-vv very verbose/build.rs output)
     -q, --quiet              No output printed to stdout
     --color WHEN             Coloring: auto, always, never
-    --message-format FMT     Error format: human, json [default: human]
+    --message-format FMT     Error format: human, json, short [default: human]
     --frozen                 Require Cargo.lock and cache are up to date
     --locked                 Require Cargo.lock is up to date
     -Z FLAG ...              Unstable (nightly-only) flags to Cargo
diff --git a/src/bin/rustdoc.rs b/src/bin/rustdoc.rs
index 156a6b86796..416523c2f46 100644
--- a/src/bin/rustdoc.rs
+++ b/src/bin/rustdoc.rs
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ Options:
     -v, --verbose ...        Use verbose output (-vv very verbose/build.rs output)
     -q, --quiet              No output printed to stdout
     --color WHEN             Coloring: auto, always, never
-    --message-format FMT     Error format: human, json [default: human]
+    --message-format FMT     Error format: human, json, short [default: human]
     --frozen                 Require Cargo.lock and cache are up to date
     --locked                 Require Cargo.lock is up to date
     -Z FLAG ...              Unstable (nightly-only) flags to Cargo
diff --git a/src/bin/test.rs b/src/bin/test.rs
index a663e06091b..23aa483e836 100644
--- a/src/bin/test.rs
+++ b/src/bin/test.rs
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ Options:
     -v, --verbose ...            Use verbose output (-vv very verbose/build.rs output)
     -q, --quiet                  No output printed to stdout
     --color WHEN                 Coloring: auto, always, never
-    --message-format FMT         Error format: human, json [default: human]
+    --message-format FMT         Error format: human, json, short [default: human]
     --no-fail-fast               Run all tests regardless of failure
     --frozen                     Require Cargo.lock and cache are up to date
     --locked                     Require Cargo.lock is up to date
diff --git a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_compile.rs b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_compile.rs
index ff8249a60cb..f5e2db9b000 100644
--- a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_compile.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_compile.rs
@@ -101,7 +101,14 @@ pub enum CompileMode {
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Deserialize)]
 pub enum MessageFormat {
     Human,
-    Json
+    Json,
+    Short,
+}
+
+impl Default for MessageFormat {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        MessageFormat::Human
+    }
 }
 
 #[derive(Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Debug)]
@@ -306,7 +313,7 @@ pub fn compile_ws<'a>(ws: &Workspace<'a>,
         let mut build_config = scrape_build_config(config, jobs, target)?;
         build_config.release = release;
         build_config.test = mode == CompileMode::Test || mode == CompileMode::Bench;
-        build_config.json_messages = message_format == MessageFormat::Json;
+        build_config.message_format = message_format;
         if let CompileMode::Doc { deps } = mode {
             build_config.doc_all = deps;
         }
diff --git a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_rustc/custom_build.rs b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_rustc/custom_build.rs
index ee51b9b3bd0..45ea612dd94 100644
--- a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_rustc/custom_build.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_rustc/custom_build.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use std::str;
 use std::sync::{Mutex, Arc};
 
 use core::PackageId;
+use ops::MessageFormat;
 use util::{Freshness, Cfg};
 use util::errors::{CargoResult, CargoResultExt, CargoError};
 use util::{internal, profile, paths};
@@ -188,7 +189,7 @@ fn build_work<'a, 'cfg>(cx: &mut Context<'a, 'cfg>, unit: &Unit<'a>)
                output_file.clone());
     let build_scripts = super::load_build_deps(cx, unit);
     let kind = unit.kind;
-    let json_messages = cx.build_config.json_messages;
+    let json_messages = cx.build_config.message_format == MessageFormat::Json;
 
     // Check to see if the build script has already run, and if it has keep
     // track of whether it has told us about some explicit dependencies
diff --git a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_rustc/mod.rs b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_rustc/mod.rs
index 8dce388c055..181b1b5330f 100644
--- a/src/cargo/ops/cargo_rustc/mod.rs
+++ b/src/cargo/ops/cargo_rustc/mod.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ use serde_json;
 use core::{Package, PackageId, PackageSet, Target, Resolve};
 use core::{Profile, Profiles, Workspace};
 use core::shell::ColorChoice;
+use ops::MessageFormat;
 use util::{self, ProcessBuilder, machine_message};
 use util::{Config, internal, profile, join_paths};
 use util::errors::{CargoResult, CargoResultExt};
@@ -67,8 +68,8 @@ pub struct BuildConfig {
     pub test: bool,
     /// Whether we are building documentation
     pub doc_all: bool,
-    /// Whether to print std output in json format (for machine reading)
-    pub json_messages: bool,
+    /// What format to use when outputting messages from the compiler
+    pub message_format: MessageFormat,
 }
 
 /// Information required to build for a target
@@ -344,7 +345,7 @@ fn rustc<'a, 'cfg>(cx: &mut Context<'a, 'cfg>,
 
     rustc.args(&cx.incremental_args(unit)?);
     rustc.args(&cx.rustflags_args(unit)?);
-    let json_messages = cx.build_config.json_messages;
+    let json_messages = cx.build_config.message_format == MessageFormat::Json;
     let package_id = unit.pkg.package_id().clone();
     let target = unit.target.clone();
 
@@ -501,7 +502,7 @@ fn link_targets<'a, 'cfg>(cx: &mut Context<'a, 'cfg>,
     let features = cx.resolve.features_sorted(&package_id).into_iter()
         .map(|s| s.to_owned())
         .collect();
-    let json_messages = cx.build_config.json_messages;
+    let json_messages = cx.build_config.message_format == MessageFormat::Json;
 
     Ok(Work::new(move |_| {
         // If we're a "root crate", e.g. the target of this compilation, then we
@@ -741,8 +742,10 @@ fn build_base_args<'a, 'cfg>(cx: &mut Context<'a, 'cfg>,
         ColorChoice::CargoAuto => {}
     }
 
-    if cx.build_config.json_messages {
-        cmd.arg("--error-format").arg("json");
+    match cx.build_config.message_format {
+        MessageFormat::Json => { cmd.arg("--error-format").arg("json"); }
+        MessageFormat::Short => { cmd.arg("--error-format").arg("short"); }
+        MessageFormat::Human => {}
     }
 
     if !test {
diff --git a/tests/build.rs b/tests/build.rs
index 523e42d9130..12c5a2e9f25 100644
--- a/tests/build.rs
+++ b/tests/build.rs
@@ -2864,7 +2864,7 @@ fn wrong_message_format_option() {
     assert_that(p.cargo("build").arg("--message-format").arg("XML"),
                 execs().with_status(1)
                        .with_stderr_contains(
-r#"[ERROR] Could not match 'xml' with any of the allowed variants: ["Human", "Json"]"#));
+r#"[ERROR] Could not match 'xml' with any of the allowed variants: ["Human", "Json", "Short"]"#));
 }
 
 #[test]