diff --git a/docs/developer-guide/formatters.md b/docs/developer-guide/formatters.md
index 246ddbfd45..8f64eb91fe 100644
--- a/docs/developer-guide/formatters.md
+++ b/docs/developer-guide/formatters.md
@@ -1,6 +1,14 @@
 # Writing formatters
 
-A formatter is a function that accepts *an array of these stylelint result objects* and outputs a string:
+A formatter is a function with the following signature:
+
+```js
+function formatter(results, returnValue) {
+  return "a string of formatted results";
+}
+```
+
+Where the first argument (`results`) is an array of stylelint result objects in the form:
 
 ```js
 // A stylelint result object
@@ -32,6 +40,40 @@ A formatter is a function that accepts *an array of these stylelint result objec
 }
 ```
 
+And the second argument (`returnValue`) is an object with one or more of the following keys:
+
+```js
+{
+  errored: false, // `true` if there were any warnings with "error" severity
+  needlessDisables: [ // Present if stylelint was configured with `reportNeedlessDisables: true`
+    {
+      source: "path/to/file.css",
+      ranges: [
+        {
+		      start: 10,
+          unusedRule: "indentation"
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  ],
+  invalidScopeDisables: [ // Present if stylelint was configured with `reportInvalidScopeDisables: true`
+    {
+      source: "path/to/file.css",
+      ranges: [
+        {
+          start: 1,
+          unusedRule: "color-named"
+        }
+      ]
+    }
+  ],
+  maxWarningsExceeded: { // Present if stylelint was configured with a `maxWarnings` count
+    maxWarnings: 10,
+    foundWarnings: 15
+  }
+}
+```
+
 ## `stylelint.formatters`
 
 stylelint's internal formatters are exposed publicly in `stylelint.formatters`.
diff --git a/lib/__tests__/standalone-formatter.test.js b/lib/__tests__/standalone-formatter.test.js
index d5c64fa03e..87dd0b8a81 100644
--- a/lib/__tests__/standalone-formatter.test.js
+++ b/lib/__tests__/standalone-formatter.test.js
@@ -50,3 +50,53 @@ it('standalone with invalid formatter option', () => {
 		);
 	});
 });
+
+it('standalone formatter receives {needlessDisables} as second argument', () => {
+	const formatter = jest.fn((results, { needlessDisables }) => {
+		return JSON.stringify({ results, needlessDisables }, null, 2);
+	});
+
+	return standalone({
+		code: `
+			/* stylelint-disable yo */
+			a {}
+		`,
+		config: configBlockNoEmpty,
+		reportNeedlessDisables: true,
+		formatter,
+	}).then((linted) => {
+		const { output, results, needlessDisables } = linted;
+
+		expect(needlessDisables).not.toBeUndefined();
+		expect(needlessDisables).toHaveLength(1);
+
+		expect(typeof output).toBe('string');
+		expect(formatter).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+		expect(output).toBe(JSON.stringify({ results, needlessDisables }, null, 2));
+	});
+});
+
+it('standalone formatter receives {invalidScopeDisables} as second argument', () => {
+	const formatter = jest.fn((results, { invalidScopeDisables }) => {
+		return JSON.stringify({ results, invalidScopeDisables }, null, 2);
+	});
+
+	return standalone({
+		code: `
+			/* stylelint-disable indentation */
+			a { color: red; }
+		`,
+		config: configBlockNoEmpty,
+		reportInvalidScopeDisables: true,
+		formatter,
+	}).then((linted) => {
+		const { output, results, invalidScopeDisables } = linted;
+
+		expect(invalidScopeDisables).not.toBeUndefined();
+		expect(invalidScopeDisables).toHaveLength(1);
+
+		expect(typeof output).toBe('string');
+		expect(formatter).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+		expect(output).toBe(JSON.stringify({ results, invalidScopeDisables }, null, 2));
+	});
+});
diff --git a/lib/standalone.js b/lib/standalone.js
index 3b4b0a977c..bb0e10c478 100644
--- a/lib/standalone.js
+++ b/lib/standalone.js
@@ -293,11 +293,12 @@ module.exports = function(
 		const errored = stylelintResults.some(
 			(result) => result.errored || result.parseErrors.length > 0,
 		);
+
 		/** @type {StylelintStandaloneReturnValue} */
 		const returnValue /*: stylelint$standaloneReturnValue*/ = {
 			errored,
-			output: formatterFunction(stylelintResults),
-			results: stylelintResults,
+			results: [],
+			output: '',
 		};
 
 		if (reportNeedlessDisables) {
@@ -322,6 +323,9 @@ module.exports = function(
 			}
 		}
 
+		returnValue.output = formatterFunction(stylelintResults, returnValue);
+		returnValue.results = stylelintResults;
+
 		debug(`Linting complete in ${Date.now() - startTime}ms`);
 
 		return returnValue;