diff --git a/cli/command/container/list.go b/cli/command/container/list.go
index f76a9fa947..80ca727974 100644
--- a/cli/command/container/list.go
+++ b/cli/command/container/list.go
@@ -77,8 +77,7 @@ func buildContainerListOptions(opts *psOptions) (*types.ContainerListOptions, er
 		options.Limit = 1
 	}
 
-	options.Size = opts.size
-	if !options.Size && len(opts.format) > 0 {
+	if !opts.quiet && !options.Size && len(opts.format) > 0 {
 		// The --size option isn't set, but .Size may be used in the template.
 		// Parse and execute the given template to detect if the .Size field is
 		// used. If it is, then automatically enable the --size option. See #24696
@@ -109,6 +108,11 @@ func buildContainerListOptions(opts *psOptions) (*types.ContainerListOptions, er
 func runPs(dockerCli command.Cli, options *psOptions) error {
 	ctx := context.Background()
 
+	if len(options.format) == 0 {
+		// load custom psFormat from CLI config (if any)
+		options.format = dockerCli.ConfigFile().PsFormat
+	}
+
 	listOptions, err := buildContainerListOptions(options)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -119,18 +123,9 @@ func runPs(dockerCli command.Cli, options *psOptions) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	format := options.format
-	if len(format) == 0 {
-		if len(dockerCli.ConfigFile().PsFormat) > 0 && !options.quiet {
-			format = dockerCli.ConfigFile().PsFormat
-		} else {
-			format = formatter.TableFormatKey
-		}
-	}
-
 	containerCtx := formatter.Context{
 		Output: dockerCli.Out(),
-		Format: formatter.NewContainerFormat(format, options.quiet, listOptions.Size),
+		Format: formatter.NewContainerFormat(options.format, options.quiet, listOptions.Size),
 		Trunc:  !options.noTrunc,
 	}
 	return formatter.ContainerWrite(containerCtx, containers)
diff --git a/cli/command/container/list_test.go b/cli/command/container/list_test.go
index 3c5720d60e..d436e39a99 100644
--- a/cli/command/container/list_test.go
+++ b/cli/command/container/list_test.go
@@ -246,13 +246,13 @@ func TestContainerListWithConfigFormat(t *testing.T) {
 	cli := test.NewFakeCli(&fakeClient{
 		containerListFunc: func(_ types.ContainerListOptions) ([]types.Container, error) {
 			return []types.Container{
-				*Container("c1", WithLabel("some.label", "value")),
-				*Container("c2", WithName("foo/bar"), WithLabel("foo", "bar")),
+				*Container("c1", WithLabel("some.label", "value"), WithSize(10700000)),
+				*Container("c2", WithName("foo/bar"), WithLabel("foo", "bar"), WithSize(3200000)),
 			}, nil
 		},
 	})
 	cli.SetConfigFile(&configfile.ConfigFile{
-		PsFormat: "{{ .Names }} {{ .Image }} {{ .Labels }}",
+		PsFormat: "{{ .Names }} {{ .Image }} {{ .Labels }} {{ .Size}}",
 	})
 	cmd := newListCommand(cli)
 	assert.NilError(t, cmd.Execute())
diff --git a/cli/command/container/testdata/container-list-with-config-format.golden b/cli/command/container/testdata/container-list-with-config-format.golden
index 6333bf57ee..1f6954db04 100644
--- a/cli/command/container/testdata/container-list-with-config-format.golden
+++ b/cli/command/container/testdata/container-list-with-config-format.golden
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
-c1 busybox:latest some.label=value
-c2 busybox:latest foo=bar
+c1 busybox:latest some.label=value 10.7MB
+c2 busybox:latest foo=bar 3.2MB
diff --git a/cli/command/formatter/container.go b/cli/command/formatter/container.go
index b22b36828d..f3306617f0 100644
--- a/cli/command/formatter/container.go
+++ b/cli/command/formatter/container.go
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ const (
 // NewContainerFormat returns a Format for rendering using a Context
 func NewContainerFormat(source string, quiet bool, size bool) Format {
 	switch source {
-	case TableFormatKey:
+	case TableFormatKey, "": // table formatting is the default if none is set.
 		if quiet {
 			return DefaultQuietFormat
 		}
@@ -54,8 +54,9 @@ ports: {{- pad .Ports 1 0}}
 			format += `size: {{.Size}}\n`
 		}
 		return Format(format)
+	default: // custom format
+		return Format(source)
 	}
-	return Format(source)
 }
 
 // ContainerWrite renders the context for a list of containers
diff --git a/internal/test/builders/container.go b/internal/test/builders/container.go
index 7961f376e8..0f31998a06 100644
--- a/internal/test/builders/container.go
+++ b/internal/test/builders/container.go
@@ -61,6 +61,15 @@ func WithPort(privateport, publicport uint16, builders ...func(*types.Port)) fun
 	}
 }
 
+// WithSize adds size in bytes to the container
+func WithSize(size int64) func(*types.Container) {
+	return func(c *types.Container) {
+		if size >= 0 {
+			c.SizeRw = size
+		}
+	}
+}
+
 // IP sets the ip of the port
 func IP(ip string) func(*types.Port) {
 	return func(p *types.Port) {