diff --git a/tool/tsh/common/play.go b/tool/tsh/common/play.go
index 67614b161bb07..7b560ffc260ae 100644
--- a/tool/tsh/common/play.go
+++ b/tool/tsh/common/play.go
@@ -113,9 +113,10 @@ func exportSession(cf *CLIConf) error {
 	}
 
 	switch format {
-	case teleport.JSON, teleport.YAML:
+	case teleport.JSON, teleport.YAML, teleport.Text:
 	default:
-		return trace.Errorf("Invalid format %s, only json and yaml are supported", format)
+		// this should be unreachable since kingpin validates the format flag
+		return trace.BadParameter("Invalid format %s", format)
 	}
 
 	sid, err := session.ParseID(cf.SessionID)
@@ -142,6 +143,8 @@ func exportSession(cf *CLIConf) error {
 		exporter = jsonSessionExporter{}
 	case teleport.YAML:
 		exporter = yamlSessionExporter{}
+	case teleport.Text:
+		exporter = textSessionExporter{}
 	}
 
 	exporter.WriteStart()
@@ -231,6 +234,22 @@ func (yamlSessionExporter) WriteEvent(evt apievents.AuditEvent) error {
 	return err
 }
 
+type textSessionExporter struct{}
+
+func (textSessionExporter) WriteStart() error     { return nil }
+func (textSessionExporter) WriteEnd() error       { return nil }
+func (textSessionExporter) WriteSeparator() error { return nil }
+
+func (textSessionExporter) WriteEvent(evt apievents.AuditEvent) error {
+	printEvent, ok := evt.(*apievents.SessionPrint)
+	if !ok {
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	_, err := os.Stdout.Write(printEvent.Data)
+	return trace.Wrap(err)
+}
+
 // exportFile converts the binary protobuf events from the file
 // identified by path to text (JSON/YAML) and writes the converted
 // events to standard out.
diff --git a/tool/tsh/common/tsh.go b/tool/tsh/common/tsh.go
index 5466f3bda68a0..13de3b78de8f8 100644
--- a/tool/tsh/common/tsh.go
+++ b/tool/tsh/common/tsh.go
@@ -983,8 +983,8 @@ func Run(ctx context.Context, args []string, opts ...CliOption) error {
 	play.Flag("speed", "Playback speed, applicable when streaming SSH or Kubernetes sessions.").Default("1x").EnumVar(&cf.PlaySpeed, "0.5x", "1x", "2x", "4x", "8x")
 	play.Flag("skip-idle-time", "Quickly skip over idle time, applicable when streaming SSH or Kubernetes sessions.").BoolVar(&cf.NoWait)
 	play.Flag("format", defaults.FormatFlagDescription(
-		teleport.PTY, teleport.JSON, teleport.YAML,
-	)).Short('f').Default(teleport.PTY).EnumVar(&cf.Format, teleport.PTY, teleport.JSON, teleport.YAML)
+		teleport.PTY, teleport.JSON, teleport.YAML, teleport.Text,
+	)).Short('f').Default(teleport.PTY).EnumVar(&cf.Format, teleport.PTY, teleport.JSON, teleport.YAML, teleport.Text)
 	play.Arg("session-id", "ID or path to session file to play").Required().StringVar(&cf.SessionID)
 
 	// scp