diff --git a/IPython/utils/text.py b/IPython/utils/text.py
index 1a081626e01..cc6dce46ac7 100644
--- a/IPython/utils/text.py
+++ b/IPython/utils/text.py
@@ -556,6 +556,9 @@ def _vformat(self, format_string, args, kwargs, used_args, recursion_depth):
                 # the formatting
 
                 if format_spec:
+                   if conversion:
+                      # override conversion spec
+                      field_name = '!'.join([field_name, conversion])
                     # override format spec, to allow slicing:
                     field_name = ':'.join([field_name, format_spec])
 
@@ -761,4 +764,4 @@ def get_text_list(list_, last_sep=' and ', sep=", ", wrap_item_with=""):
         return list_[0]
     return '%s%s%s' % (
         sep.join(i for i in list_[:-1]),
-        last_sep, list_[-1])
\ No newline at end of file
+        last_sep, list_[-1])