diff --git a/lib/Cake/Model/Behavior/TreeBehavior.php b/lib/Cake/Model/Behavior/TreeBehavior.php
index e982c9796b1..7fd95cd29d7 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Model/Behavior/TreeBehavior.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Model/Behavior/TreeBehavior.php
@@ -442,6 +442,37 @@ public function generateTreeList(Model $Model, $conditions = null, $keyPath = nu
 			$fields = array($Model->primaryKey, $Model->displayField, $left, $right);
 		}
 
+		$conditions = (array)$conditions;
+		if ($scope) {
+			$conditions[] = $scope;
+		}
+
+		$order = $Model->escapeField($left) . ' asc';
+		$results = $Model->find('all', compact('conditions', 'fields', 'order', 'recursive'));
+
+		return $this->formatTreeList($Model, $results, $keyPath, $valuePath);
+	}
+
+/**
+ * Formats result of a find() call to a hierarchical array used for HTML select boxes.
+ *
+ * Note that when using your own find() call this expects the order to be "left" field asc in order
+ * to generate the same result as using generateTreeList() directly.
+ *
+ * @param Model $Model Model using this behavior
+ * @param array $results Result array of a find() call
+ * @param null $keyPath A string path to the key, i.e. "{n}.Post.id"
+ * @param null $valuePath A string path to the value, i.e. "{n}.Post.title"
+ * @param string $spacer The character or characters which will be repeated
+ * @return array An associative array of records, where the id is the key, and the display field is the value
+ */
+	public function formatTreeList(Model $Model, array $results, $keyPath = null, $valuePath = null, $spacer = '_') {
+		if (empty($results)) {
+			return array();
+		}
+
+		extract($this->settings[$Model->alias]);
+
 		if (!$keyPath) {
 			$keyPath = '{n}.' . $Model->alias . '.' . $Model->primaryKey;
 		}
@@ -456,13 +487,6 @@ public function generateTreeList(Model $Model, $conditions = null, $keyPath = nu
 			array_unshift($valuePath, '%s' . $valuePath[0], '{n}.tree_prefix');
 		}
 
-		$conditions = (array)$conditions;
-		if ($scope) {
-			$conditions[] = $scope;
-		}
-
-		$order = $Model->escapeField($left) . " asc";
-		$results = $Model->find('all', compact('conditions', 'fields', 'order', 'recursive'));
 		$stack = array();
 
 		foreach ($results as $i => $result) {
@@ -474,9 +498,7 @@ public function generateTreeList(Model $Model, $conditions = null, $keyPath = nu
 			$results[$i]['tree_prefix'] = str_repeat($spacer, $count);
 			$stack[] = $result[$Model->alias][$right];
 		}
-		if (empty($results)) {
-			return array();
-		}
+
 		return Hash::combine($results, $keyPath, $valuePath);
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Model/Behavior/TreeBehaviorNumberTest.php b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Model/Behavior/TreeBehaviorNumberTest.php
index da7da8196c0..62de4bb6d42 100644
--- a/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Model/Behavior/TreeBehaviorNumberTest.php
+++ b/lib/Cake/Test/Case/Model/Behavior/TreeBehaviorNumberTest.php
@@ -1433,6 +1433,29 @@ public function testGenerateTreeListFormatting() {
 		$this->assertEquals('__3 - 1.1.1', $result[3]);
 	}
 
+/**
+ * Test the formatting options of formatTreeList()
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testFormatTreeList() {
+		extract($this->settings);
+		$this->Tree = new $modelClass();
+		$this->Tree->initialize(2, 2);
+
+		$options = array('order' => array('lft' => 'asc'));
+		$records = $this->Tree->find('all', $options);
+
+		$result = $this->Tree->formatTreeList(
+			$records,
+			"{n}.$modelClass.id",
+			array('%s - %s', "{n}.$modelClass.id", "{n}.$modelClass.name")
+		);
+		$this->assertEquals('1 - 1. Root', $result[1]);
+		$this->assertEquals('_2 - 1.1', $result[2]);
+		$this->assertEquals('__3 - 1.1.1', $result[3]);
+	}
+
 /**
  * testArraySyntax method
  *