diff --git a/webservice/rest/simpleserver.php b/webservice/rest/simpleserver.php
index f35340f3900..7b3069641d7 100644
--- a/webservice/rest/simpleserver.php
+++ b/webservice/rest/simpleserver.php
@@ -34,6 +34,18 @@ if (!webservice_protocol_is_enabled('rest')) {
     die;
 }
 
+$restformat = optional_param('moodlewsrestformat', 'xml', PARAM_ALPHA);
+//remove the alt from the request
+if (isset($_REQUEST['moodlewsrestformat'])) {
+    unset($_REQUEST['moodlewsrestformat']);
+}
+if (isset($_GET['moodlewsrestformat'])) {
+    unset($_GET['moodlewsrestformat']);
+}
+if (isset($_POST['moodlewsrestformat'])) {
+    unset($_POST['moodlewsrestformat']);
+}
+
 $server = new webservice_rest_server(WEBSERVICE_AUTHMETHOD_USERNAME);
 $server->run();
 die;