diff --git a/django/db/models/fields/__init__.py b/django/db/models/fields/__init__.py
index a6b37bcda6..fe24fab589 100644
--- a/django/db/models/fields/__init__.py
+++ b/django/db/models/fields/__init__.py
@@ -636,7 +636,7 @@ class Field(object):
     def save_form_data(self, instance, data):
         setattr(instance, self.name, data)
 
-    def formfield(self, form_class=None, **kwargs):
+    def formfield(self, form_class=None, choices_form_class=None, **kwargs):
         """
         Returns a django.forms.Field instance for this database Field.
         """
@@ -657,7 +657,9 @@ class Field(object):
             defaults['coerce'] = self.to_python
             if self.null:
                 defaults['empty_value'] = None
-            if form_class is None or not issubclass(form_class, forms.TypedChoiceField):
+            if choices_form_class is not None:
+                form_class = choices_form_class
+            else:
                 form_class = forms.TypedChoiceField
             # Many of the subclass-specific formfield arguments (min_value,
             # max_value) don't apply for choice fields, so be sure to only pass
diff --git a/docs/howto/custom-model-fields.txt b/docs/howto/custom-model-fields.txt
index 6493c18f99..0692e97156 100644
--- a/docs/howto/custom-model-fields.txt
+++ b/docs/howto/custom-model-fields.txt
@@ -617,17 +617,23 @@ prepared with :meth:`.get_prep_lookup`.
 Specifying the form field for a model field
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
-.. method:: Field.formfield(self, form_class=forms.CharField, **kwargs)
+.. method:: Field.formfield(self, form_class=None, choices_form_class=None, **kwargs)
 
-Returns the default form field to use when this field is displayed in a model.
-This method is called by the :class:`~django.forms.ModelForm` helper.
+Returns the default form field to use when this model field is displayed in a
+form.  This method is called by the :class:`~django.forms.ModelForm` helper.
+
+The form field class can be specified via the ``form_class`` and
+``choices_form_class`` arguments; the latter is used if the field has choices
+specified, the former otherwise. If these arguments are not provided,
+:class:`~django.forms.CharField` or :class:`~django.forms.TypedChoiceField`
+will be used.
 
 All of the ``kwargs`` dictionary is passed directly to the form field's
 ``__init__()`` method. Normally, all you need to do is set up a good default
-for the ``form_class`` argument and then delegate further handling to the
-parent class. This might require you to write a custom form field (and even a
-form widget). See the :doc:`forms documentation </topics/forms/index>` for
-information about this.
+for the ``form_class`` (and maybe ``choices_form_class``) argument and then
+delegate further handling to the parent class. This might require you to write
+a custom form field (and even a form widget). See the :doc:`forms documentation
+</topics/forms/index>` for information about this.
 
 Continuing our ongoing example, we can write the :meth:`.formfield` method as::
 
diff --git a/tests/model_fields/tests.py b/tests/model_fields/tests.py
index 0ad0e168d7..eee3f31532 100644
--- a/tests/model_fields/tests.py
+++ b/tests/model_fields/tests.py
@@ -78,14 +78,12 @@ class BasicFieldTests(test.TestCase):
 
         self.assertEqual(m._meta.get_field('id').verbose_name, 'verbose pk')
 
-    def test_formclass_with_choices(self):
-        # regression for 18162
-        class CustomChoiceField(forms.TypedChoiceField):
-            pass
-        choices = [('a@b.cc', 'a@b.cc'), ('b@b.cc', 'b@b.cc')]
+    def test_choices_form_class(self):
+        """Can supply a custom choices form class. Regression for #20999."""
+        choices = [('a', 'a')]
         field = models.CharField(choices=choices)
-        klass = CustomChoiceField
-        self.assertIsInstance(field.formfield(form_class=klass), klass)
+        klass = forms.TypedMultipleChoiceField
+        self.assertIsInstance(field.formfield(choices_form_class=klass), klass)
 
 
 class DecimalFieldTests(test.TestCase):