diff --git a/IPython/core/formatters.py b/IPython/core/formatters.py
index 700a903..62d296f 100644
--- a/IPython/core/formatters.py
+++ b/IPython/core/formatters.py
@@ -944,7 +944,7 @@ def format_display_data(obj, include=None, exclude=None):
     """
     from IPython.core.interactiveshell import InteractiveShell
 
-    InteractiveShell.instance().display_formatter.format(
+    return InteractiveShell.instance().display_formatter.format(
         obj,
         include,
         exclude