diff --git a/docs/source/internal/cli.rst b/docs/source/internal/cli.rst
index f3af8c1..a1e9612 100644
--- a/docs/source/internal/cli.rst
+++ b/docs/source/internal/cli.rst
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@ passed by the user as early as possible so as much logging can be produced as
 possible.
 
 The default flake8 options are registered by
-:func:`~flake8.main.cli.register_default_options`. Trying to register these
-options in plugins will result in errors.
+:func:`~flake8.main.options.register_default_options`. Trying to register
+these options in plugins will result in errors.
 
 
 API Documentation
diff --git a/flake8/main/application.py b/flake8/main/application.py
index d776bbf..e41a6c2 100644
--- a/flake8/main/application.py
+++ b/flake8/main/application.py
@@ -34,11 +34,10 @@ class Application(object):
         self.version = version
         #: The instance of :class:`flake8.options.manager.OptionManager` used
         #: to parse and handle the options and arguments passed by the user
-        self.option_manager = None
-        temp_option_manager = manager.OptionManager(
+        self.option_manager = manager.OptionManager(
             prog='flake8', version=flake8.__version__
         )
-        options.register_default_options(temp_option_manager)
+        options.register_default_options(self.option_manager)
 
         # We haven't found or registered our plugins yet, so let's defer
         # printing the version until we aggregate options from config files
@@ -62,7 +61,7 @@ class Application(object):
         except ValueError:
             pass
 
-        preliminary_opts, _ = temp_option_manager.parse_args(args)
+        preliminary_opts, _ = self.option_manager.parse_args(args)
         # Set the verbosity of the program
         flake8.configure_logging(preliminary_opts.verbose,
                                  preliminary_opts.output_file)
@@ -242,12 +241,7 @@ class Application(object):
         This finds the plugins, registers their options, and parses the
         command-line arguments.
         """
-        self.option_manager = manager.OptionManager(
-            prog='flake8', version=flake8.__version__
-        )
         self.find_plugins()
-        options.register_default_options(self.option_manager,
-                                         self.formatting_plugins.names)
         self.register_plugin_options()
         self.parse_configuration_and_cli(argv)
         self.make_formatter()
diff --git a/flake8/main/options.py b/flake8/main/options.py
index 6ca7e77..9be4386 100644
--- a/flake8/main/options.py
+++ b/flake8/main/options.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ from flake8 import defaults
 from flake8.main import vcs
 
 
-def register_default_options(option_manager, formatters=None):
+def register_default_options(option_manager):
     """Register the default options on our OptionManager.
 
     The default options include:
@@ -82,9 +82,12 @@ def register_default_options(option_manager, formatters=None):
 
     # TODO(sigmavirus24): Figure out --first/--repeat
 
+    # NOTE(sigmavirus24): We can't use choices for this option since users can
+    # freely provide a format string and that will break if we restrict their
+    # choices.
     add_option(
         '--format', metavar='format', default='default',
-        parse_from_config=True, choices=(formatters or ['default']),
+        parse_from_config=True,
         help='Format errors according to the chosen formatter.',
     )