diff --git a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/format/factories/AbstractFormatter.java b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/format/factories/AbstractFormatter.java
index 500c2ee0..d14d7fc1 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/format/factories/AbstractFormatter.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/format/factories/AbstractFormatter.java
@@ -85,11 +85,9 @@ public abstract class AbstractFormatter implements Formatter {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Returns the expected string format for the given target class. The default implementation just returns null.
+	 * Returns the expected string format for the given target class.
 	 */
-	protected String getExpectedFormat() {
-		return null;
-	}
+	protected abstract String getExpectedFormat();
 
 	/**
 	 * Is given object <i>empty</i> (null or empty string)?
diff --git a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/format/factories/DateFormatterFactory.java b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/format/factories/DateFormatterFactory.java
index 67bbd10c..9176d1e7 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/format/factories/DateFormatterFactory.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/format/factories/DateFormatterFactory.java
@@ -55,6 +55,10 @@ public class DateFormatterFactory implements FormatterFactory {
 			return dateFormat.parse(formattedString);
 		}
 
+		protected String getExpectedFormat() {
+			return dateFormat.toString();
+		}
+
 		public String toString() {
 			return new ToStringCreator(this).append("format", dateFormat).toString();
 		}
diff --git a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/format/factories/NumberFormatterFactory.java b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/format/factories/NumberFormatterFactory.java
index 38140977..dc3fd8c4 100644
--- a/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/format/factories/NumberFormatterFactory.java
+++ b/spring-binding/src/main/java/org/springframework/binding/format/factories/NumberFormatterFactory.java
@@ -72,6 +72,10 @@ public class NumberFormatterFactory implements FormatterFactory {
 			}
 		}
 
+		protected String getExpectedFormat() {
+			return numberFormat.toString();
+		}
+
 		public String toString() {
 			return new ToStringCreator(this).append("format", numberFormat).append("targetClass", targetClass)
 					.toString();