diff --git a/src/box/lua/console.c b/src/box/lua/console.c
index 7a5ac5550dcbf6606894f0955907671788b5d2b6..74434f992518c75aa414a7a57101a4ecbe24bff1 100644
--- a/src/box/lua/console.c
+++ b/src/box/lua/console.c
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@
 #include "lua/fiber.h"
 #include "fiber.h"
 #include "coio.h"
+#include "lua-yaml/lyaml.h"
 #include <lua.h>
 #include <lauxlib.h>
 #include <lualib.h>
@@ -42,6 +43,8 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <ctype.h>
 
+static struct luaL_serializer *luaL_yaml_default = NULL;
+
 /*
  * Completion engine (Mike Paul's).
  * Used internally when collecting completions locally. Also a Lua
@@ -329,6 +332,33 @@ lbox_console_add_history(struct lua_State *L)
 	return 0;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Encode Lua object into YAML documents. Gets variable count of
+ * parameters.
+ * @retval 1 Pushes string with YAML documents - one per
+ *         parameter.
+ */
+static int
+lbox_console_format(struct lua_State *L)
+{
+	int arg_count = lua_gettop(L);
+	if (arg_count == 0) {
+		lua_pushstring(L, "---\n...\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+	lua_createtable(L, arg_count, 0);
+	for (int i = 0; i < arg_count; ++i) {
+		if (lua_isnil(L, i + 1))
+			luaL_pushnull(L);
+		else
+			lua_pushvalue(L, i + 1);
+		lua_rawseti(L, -2, i + 1);
+	}
+	lua_replace(L, 1);
+	lua_settop(L, 1);
+	return lua_yaml_encode(L, luaL_yaml_default, NULL, NULL);
+}
+
 void
 tarantool_lua_console_init(struct lua_State *L)
 {
@@ -337,6 +367,7 @@ tarantool_lua_console_init(struct lua_State *L)
 		{"save_history",       lbox_console_save_history},
 		{"add_history",        lbox_console_add_history},
 		{"completion_handler", lbox_console_completion_handler},
+		{"format",             lbox_console_format},
 		{NULL, NULL}
 	};
 	luaL_register_module(L, "console", consolelib);
@@ -345,6 +376,22 @@ tarantool_lua_console_init(struct lua_State *L)
 	lua_getfield(L, -1, "completion_handler");
 	lua_pushcclosure(L, lbox_console_readline, 1);
 	lua_setfield(L, -2, "readline");
+
+	luaL_yaml_default = lua_yaml_new_serializer(L);
+	luaL_yaml_default->encode_invalid_numbers = 1;
+	luaL_yaml_default->encode_load_metatables = 1;
+	luaL_yaml_default->encode_use_tostring = 1;
+	luaL_yaml_default->encode_invalid_as_nil = 1;
+	/*
+	 * Hold reference to the formatter in module local
+	 * variable.
+	 *
+	 * This member is not visible to a user, because
+	 * console.lua modifies itself, holding the formatter in
+	 * module local variable. Add_history, save_history,
+	 * load_history work the same way.
+	 */
+	lua_setfield(L, -2, "formatter");
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/box/lua/console.lua b/src/box/lua/console.lua
index f1a8f4915bc0b126fd26e6adfd83b28fad3333b1..bc4e02bfccf67127618d9fa1527da742ad1e65d4 100644
--- a/src/box/lua/console.lua
+++ b/src/box/lua/console.lua
@@ -12,34 +12,11 @@ local net_box = require('net.box')
 
 local YAML_TERM = '\n...\n'
 
--- admin formatter must be able to encode any Lua variable
-local formatter = yaml.new()
-formatter.cfg{
-    encode_invalid_numbers = true;
-    encode_load_metatables = true;
-    encode_use_tostring    = true;
-    encode_invalid_as_nil  = true;
-}
-
 local function format(status, ...)
-    -- When storing a nil in a Lua table, there is no way to
-    -- distinguish nil value from no value. This is a trick to
-    -- make sure yaml converter correctly
-    local function wrapnull(v)
-        return v == nil and formatter.NULL or v
-    end
     local err
     if status then
-        local count = select('#', ...)
-        if count == 0 then
-            return "---\n...\n"
-        end
-        local res = {}
-        for i=1,count,1 do
-            table.insert(res, wrapnull(select(i, ...)))
-        end
         -- serializer can raise an exception
-        status, err = pcall(formatter.encode, res)
+        status, err = pcall(internal.format, ...)
         if status then
             return err
         else
@@ -47,9 +24,12 @@ local function format(status, ...)
                 tostring(err)
         end
     else
-        err = wrapnull(...)
+        err = ...
+        if err == nil then
+            err = box.NULL
+        end
     end
-    return formatter.encode({{error = err }})
+    return internal.format({ error = err })
 end
 
 --
diff --git a/third_party/lua-yaml/lyaml.cc b/third_party/lua-yaml/lyaml.cc
index bf60c5ca00fd4c459bdd1b0a3cf4fd16608d5d7f..14eabca7729e725d855b54a822171c3817c134c9 100644
--- a/third_party/lua-yaml/lyaml.cc
+++ b/third_party/lua-yaml/lyaml.cc
@@ -702,27 +702,7 @@ static void find_references(struct lua_yaml_dumper *dumper) {
    }
 }
 
-/**
- * Encode an object on Lua stack into YAML stream.
- * @param L Lua stack to get an argument and push the result.
- * @param serializer Lua YAML serializer.
- * @param tag_handle NULL, or a global tag handle. For global tags
- *        details see the standard:
- *        http://yaml.org/spec/1.2/spec.html#tag/shorthand/.
- * @param tag_prefix NULL, or a global tag prefix, to which @a
- *        handle is expanded. Example of a tagged document:
- *              handle          prefix
- *               ____   ________________________
- *              /    \ /                        \
- *        '%TAG !push! tag:tarantool.io/push,2018
- *         --- value
- *         ...
- *
- * @retval 2 Pushes two values on error: nil, error description.
- * @retval 1 Pushes one value on success: string with dumped
- *         object.
- */
-static int
+int
 lua_yaml_encode(lua_State *L, struct luaL_serializer *serializer,
                 const char *tag_handle, const char *tag_prefix)
 {
@@ -839,7 +819,11 @@ static int l_dump(lua_State *L) {
 }
 
 static int
-l_new(lua_State *L);
+l_new(lua_State *L)
+{
+   lua_yaml_new_serializer(L);
+   return 1;
+}
 
 static const luaL_Reg yamllib[] = {
    { "encode", l_dump },
@@ -848,12 +832,12 @@ static const luaL_Reg yamllib[] = {
    { NULL, NULL}
 };
 
-static int
-l_new(lua_State *L)
+struct luaL_serializer *
+lua_yaml_new_serializer(lua_State *L)
 {
    struct luaL_serializer *s = luaL_newserializer(L, NULL, yamllib);
    s->has_compact = 1;
-   return 1;
+   return s;
 }
 
 int
diff --git a/third_party/lua-yaml/lyaml.h b/third_party/lua-yaml/lyaml.h
index 650a2d7474162f6252892ee556bcd3f611e55371..335792d245150eb5375819a8c6c92d6ce9cbdbb3 100644
--- a/third_party/lua-yaml/lyaml.h
+++ b/third_party/lua-yaml/lyaml.h
@@ -7,9 +7,39 @@ extern "C" {
 
 #include <lua.h>
 
+struct luaL_serializer;
+
 LUALIB_API int
 luaopen_yaml(lua_State *L);
 
+/** @Sa luaL_newserializer(). */
+struct luaL_serializer *
+lua_yaml_new_serializer(lua_State *L);
+
+/**
+ * Encode an object on Lua stack into YAML stream.
+ * @param L Lua stack to get an argument and push the result.
+ * @param serializer Lua YAML serializer.
+ * @param tag_handle NULL, or a global tag handle. For global tags
+ *        details see the standard:
+ *        http://yaml.org/spec/1.2/spec.html#tag/shorthand/.
+ * @param tag_prefix NULL, or a global tag prefix, to which @a
+ *        handle is expanded. Example of a tagged document:
+ *              handle          prefix
+ *               ____   ________________________
+ *              /    \ /                        \
+ *        '%TAG !push! tag:tarantool.io/push,2018
+ *         --- value
+ *         ...
+ *
+ * @retval 2 Pushes two values on error: nil, error description.
+ * @retval 1 Pushes one value on success: string with dumped
+ *         object.
+ */
+int
+lua_yaml_encode(lua_State *L, struct luaL_serializer *serializer,
+		const char *tag_handle, const char *tag_prefix);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif