diff --git a/src/iso19111/crs.cpp b/src/iso19111/crs.cpp
index 1c3db81e7f..6f77f8337c 100644
--- a/src/iso19111/crs.cpp
+++ b/src/iso19111/crs.cpp
@@ -310,17 +310,15 @@ CRSNNPtr CRS::alterCSLinearUnit(const common::UnitOfMeasure &unit) const {
             auto cartCS = util::nn_dynamic_pointer_cast<cs::CartesianCS>(
                 engCRS->coordinateSystem());
             if (cartCS) {
-                auto props = createPropertyMap(this);
-                props.set("FORCE_OUTPUT_CS", true);
-                return EngineeringCRS::create(props, engCRS->datum(),
+                return EngineeringCRS::create(createPropertyMap(this),
+                                              engCRS->datum(),
                                               cartCS->alterUnit(unit));
             } else {
                 auto vertCS = util::nn_dynamic_pointer_cast<cs::VerticalCS>(
                     engCRS->coordinateSystem());
                 if (vertCS) {
-                    auto props = createPropertyMap(this);
-                    props.set("FORCE_OUTPUT_CS", true);
-                    return EngineeringCRS::create(props, engCRS->datum(),
+                    return EngineeringCRS::create(createPropertyMap(this),
+                                                  engCRS->datum(),
                                                   vertCS->alterUnit(unit));
                 }
             }
@@ -5316,9 +5314,7 @@ bool TemporalCRS::_isEquivalentTo(
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 //! @cond Doxygen_Suppress
-struct EngineeringCRS::Private {
-    bool forceOutputCS_ = false;
-};
+struct EngineeringCRS::Private {};
 //! @endcond
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -5376,17 +5372,6 @@ EngineeringCRS::create(const util::PropertyMap &properties,
     crs->assignSelf(crs);
     crs->setProperties(properties);
 
-    const auto pVal = properties.get("FORCE_OUTPUT_CS");
-    if (pVal) {
-        if (const auto genVal =
-                dynamic_cast<const util::BoxedValue *>(pVal->get())) {
-            if (genVal->type() == util::BoxedValue::Type::BOOLEAN &&
-                genVal->booleanValue()) {
-                crs->d->forceOutputCS_ = true;
-            }
-        }
-    }
-
     return crs;
 }
 
@@ -5401,11 +5386,16 @@ void EngineeringCRS::_exportToWKT(io::WKTFormatter *formatter) const {
     formatter->addQuotedString(nameStr());
     if (isWKT2 || !datum()->nameStr().empty()) {
         datum()->_exportToWKT(formatter);
-        coordinateSystem()->_exportToWKT(formatter);
     }
-    if (!isWKT2 && d->forceOutputCS_) {
+    if (!isWKT2) {
         coordinateSystem()->axisList()[0]->unit()._exportToWKT(formatter);
     }
+
+    const auto oldAxisOutputRule = formatter->outputAxis();
+    formatter->setOutputAxis(io::WKTFormatter::OutputAxisRule::YES);
+    coordinateSystem()->_exportToWKT(formatter);
+    formatter->setOutputAxis(oldAxisOutputRule);
+
     ObjectUsage::baseExportToWKT(formatter);
     formatter->endNode();
 }
diff --git a/test/unit/test_c_api.cpp b/test/unit/test_c_api.cpp
index 050ffdb8d0..b53223d728 100644
--- a/test/unit/test_c_api.cpp
+++ b/test/unit/test_c_api.cpp
@@ -2738,7 +2738,12 @@ TEST_F(CApi, proj_create_engineering_crs) {
     ASSERT_NE(crs, nullptr);
     auto wkt = proj_as_wkt(m_ctxt, crs, PJ_WKT1_GDAL, nullptr);
     ASSERT_NE(wkt, nullptr);
-    EXPECT_EQ(std::string(wkt), "LOCAL_CS[\"name\"]") << wkt;
+    EXPECT_EQ(std::string(wkt), "LOCAL_CS[\"name\",\n"
+                                "    UNIT[\"metre\",1,\n"
+                                "        AUTHORITY[\"EPSG\",\"9001\"]],\n"
+                                "    AXIS[\"Easting\",EAST],\n"
+                                "    AXIS[\"Northing\",NORTH]]")
+        << wkt;
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/test/unit/test_crs.cpp b/test/unit/test_crs.cpp
index c5ea1acc78..e5a974bf77 100644
--- a/test/unit/test_crs.cpp
+++ b/test/unit/test_crs.cpp
@@ -4813,7 +4813,11 @@ TEST(crs, engineeringCRS_WKT2) {
 TEST(crs, engineeringCRS_WKT1) {
 
     auto expected = "LOCAL_CS[\"Engineering CRS\",\n"
-                    "    LOCAL_DATUM[\"Engineering datum\",32767]]";
+                    "    LOCAL_DATUM[\"Engineering datum\",32767],\n"
+                    "    UNIT[\"metre\",1,\n"
+                    "        AUTHORITY[\"EPSG\",\"9001\"]],\n"
+                    "    AXIS[\"Easting\",EAST],\n"
+                    "    AXIS[\"Northing\",NORTH]]";
     EXPECT_EQ(
         createEngineeringCRS()->exportToWKT(
             WKTFormatter::create(WKTFormatter::Convention::WKT1_GDAL).get()),
@@ -5399,7 +5403,8 @@ TEST(crs, crs_alterCSLinearUnit) {
         auto wkt = alteredCRS->exportToWKT(
             &(WKTFormatter::create(WKTFormatter::Convention::WKT1_GDAL)
                   ->setMultiLine(false)));
-        EXPECT_EQ(wkt, "LOCAL_CS[\"foo\",UNIT[\"my unit\",2]]");
+        EXPECT_EQ(wkt, "LOCAL_CS[\"foo\",UNIT[\"my unit\",2],"
+                       "AXIS[\"Easting\",EAST],AXIS[\"Northing\",NORTH]]");
     }
 
     {
diff --git a/test/unit/test_io.cpp b/test/unit/test_io.cpp
index 399cea8c98..92bc6d4b59 100644
--- a/test/unit/test_io.cpp
+++ b/test/unit/test_io.cpp
@@ -3901,10 +3901,15 @@ TEST(wkt_parse, LOCAL_CS_short) {
     auto cs = crs->coordinateSystem();
     ASSERT_EQ(cs->axisList().size(), 2U);
 
+    auto expected_wkt = "LOCAL_CS[\"Engineering CRS\",\n"
+                        "    UNIT[\"metre\",1,\n"
+                        "        AUTHORITY[\"EPSG\",\"9001\"]],\n"
+                        "    AXIS[\"Easting\",EAST],\n"
+                        "    AXIS[\"Northing\",NORTH]]";
     EXPECT_EQ(
         crs->exportToWKT(
             WKTFormatter::create(WKTFormatter::Convention::WKT1_GDAL).get()),
-        wkt);
+        expected_wkt);
 }
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------