diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/stringOperations.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/stringOperations.scala
index 280ae0e546358..fe57d17f1ec14 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/stringOperations.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/stringOperations.scala
@@ -526,7 +526,7 @@ case class StringRPad(str: Expression, len: Expression, pad: Expression)
 /**
  * Returns the input formatted according do printf-style format strings
  */
-case class StringFormat(children: Expression*) extends Expression with ImplicitCastInputTypes {
+case class StringFormat(children: Expression*) extends Expression with CodegenFallback {
 
   require(children.nonEmpty, "printf() should take at least 1 argument")
 
@@ -536,10 +536,6 @@ case class StringFormat(children: Expression*) extends Expression with ImplicitC
   private def format: Expression = children(0)
   private def args: Seq[Expression] = children.tail
 
-  override def inputTypes: Seq[AbstractDataType] =
-    children.zipWithIndex.map(x => if (x._2 == 0) StringType else AnyDataType)
-
-
   override def eval(input: InternalRow): Any = {
     val pattern = format.eval(input)
     if (pattern == null) {
@@ -555,42 +551,6 @@ case class StringFormat(children: Expression*) extends Expression with ImplicitC
     }
   }
 
-  override def genCode(ctx: CodeGenContext, ev: GeneratedExpressionCode): String = {
-    val pattern = children.head.gen(ctx)
-
-    val argListGen = children.tail.map(x => (x.dataType, x.gen(ctx)))
-    val argListCode = argListGen.map(_._2.code + "\n")
-
-    val argListString = argListGen.foldLeft("")((s, v) => {
-      val nullSafeString =
-        if (ctx.boxedType(v._1) != ctx.javaType(v._1)) {
-          // Java primitives get boxed in order to allow null values.
-          s"(${v._2.isNull}) ? (${ctx.boxedType(v._1)}) null : " +
-            s"new ${ctx.boxedType(v._1)}(${v._2.primitive})"
-        } else {
-          s"(${v._2.isNull}) ? null : ${v._2.primitive}"
-        }
-      s + "," + nullSafeString
-    })
-
-    val form = ctx.freshName("formatter")
-    val formatter = classOf[java.util.Formatter].getName
-    val sb = ctx.freshName("sb")
-    val stringBuffer = classOf[StringBuffer].getName
-    s"""
-      ${pattern.code}
-      boolean ${ev.isNull} = ${pattern.isNull};
-      ${ctx.javaType(dataType)} ${ev.primitive} = ${ctx.defaultValue(dataType)};
-      if (!${ev.isNull}) {
-        ${argListCode.mkString}
-        $stringBuffer $sb = new $stringBuffer();
-        $formatter $form = new $formatter($sb, ${classOf[Locale].getName}.US);
-        $form.format(${pattern.primitive}.toString() $argListString);
-        ${ev.primitive} = UTF8String.fromString($sb.toString());
-      }
-     """
-  }
-
   override def prettyName: String = "printf"
 }
 
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/StringExpressionsSuite.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/StringExpressionsSuite.scala
index 3c2d88731beb4..96c540ab36f08 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/StringExpressionsSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/expressions/StringExpressionsSuite.scala
@@ -351,16 +351,18 @@ class StringExpressionsSuite extends SparkFunSuite with ExpressionEvalHelper {
   }
 
   test("FORMAT") {
-    checkEvaluation(StringFormat(Literal("aa%d%s"), Literal(123), Literal("a")), "aa123a")
+    val f = 'f.string.at(0)
+    val d1 = 'd.int.at(1)
+    val s1 = 's.int.at(2)
+
+    val row1 = create_row("aa%d%s", 12, "cc")
+    val row2 = create_row(null, 12, "cc")
+    checkEvaluation(StringFormat(Literal("aa%d%s"), Literal(123), Literal("a")), "aa123a", row1)
     checkEvaluation(StringFormat(Literal("aa")), "aa", create_row(null))
-    checkEvaluation(StringFormat(Literal("aa%d%s"), Literal(123), Literal("a")), "aa123a")
-    checkEvaluation(StringFormat(Literal("aa%d%s"), 12, "cc"), "aa12cc")
+    checkEvaluation(StringFormat(Literal("aa%d%s"), Literal(123), Literal("a")), "aa123a", row1)
 
-    checkEvaluation(StringFormat(Literal.create(null, StringType), 12, "cc"), null)
-    checkEvaluation(
-      StringFormat(Literal("aa%d%s"), Literal.create(null, IntegerType), "cc"), "aanullcc")
-    checkEvaluation(
-      StringFormat(Literal("aa%d%s"), 12, Literal.create(null, StringType)), "aa12null")
+    checkEvaluation(StringFormat(f, d1, s1), "aa12cc", row1)
+    checkEvaluation(StringFormat(f, d1, s1), null, row2)
   }
 
   test("INSTR") {
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/StringFunctionsSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/StringFunctionsSuite.scala
index 3702e73b4e74f..d1f855903ca4b 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/StringFunctionsSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/StringFunctionsSuite.scala
@@ -132,16 +132,6 @@ class StringFunctionsSuite extends QueryTest {
     checkAnswer(
       df.selectExpr("printf(a, b, c)"),
       Row("aa123cc"))
-
-    val df2 = Seq(("aa%d%s".getBytes, 123, "cc")).toDF("a", "b", "c")
-
-    checkAnswer(
-      df2.select(formatString($"a", $"b", $"c"), formatString("aa%d%s", "b", "c")),
-      Row("aa123cc", "aa123cc"))
-
-    checkAnswer(
-      df2.selectExpr("printf(a, b, c)"),
-      Row("aa123cc"))
   }
 
   test("string instr function") {