diff --git a/core/sile.lua b/core/sile.lua
index 1c8bf90a4..85f2eb424 100644
--- a/core/sile.lua
+++ b/core/sile.lua
@@ -208,10 +208,6 @@ function SILE.init ()
    if not SILE.backend then
       SILE.backend = "libtexpdf"
    end
-   if SILE.backend == "ast" then
-      runEvals(SILE.input.evaluates, "evaluate")
-      return -- Short circuit for AST processing only
-   end
    if SILE.backend == "libtexpdf" then
       SILE.shaper = SILE.shapers.harfbuzz()
       SILE.outputter = SILE.outputters.libtexpdf()
@@ -227,6 +223,9 @@ function SILE.init ()
    elseif SILE.backend == "dummy" then
       SILE.shaper = SILE.shapers.dummy()
       SILE.outputter = SILE.outputters.dummy()
+   elseif SILE.backend == "ast" then
+      SILE.shaper = SILE.shapers.dummy()
+      SILE.outputter = SILE.outputters.ast()
    end
    SILE.pagebuilder = SILE.pagebuilders.base()
    io.stdout:setvbuf("no")
@@ -399,6 +398,7 @@ end
 -- iterate through the tree handling each item in the order encountered.
 -- @tparam table ast SILE content in abstract syntax tree format (a table of strings, functions, or more AST trees).
 function SILE.process (ast)
+   ast = SILE.outputter:preProcess(ast)
    if not ast then
       return
    end
@@ -699,9 +699,7 @@ end
 -- 5. Close out the Lua profiler if it was running.
 -- 6. Output version information if versions debug flag is set.
 function SILE.finish ()
-   if SILE.documentState.documentClass then
-      SILE.documentState.documentClass:finish()
-   end
+   SILE.documentState.documentClass:finish()
    SILE.font.finish()
    runEvals(SILE.input.evaluateAfters, "evaluate-after")
    if SILE.makeDeps then
diff --git a/inputters/base.lua b/inputters/base.lua
index 012172fcb..2a076f244 100644
--- a/inputters/base.lua
+++ b/inputters/base.lua
@@ -49,9 +49,6 @@ end
 function inputter:process (doc)
    -- Input parsers can already return multiple ASTs, but so far we only process one
    local tree = self:parse(doc)[1]
-   if not SILE.outputter then
-      return pl.pretty.dump(tree)
-   end
    self:requireClass(tree)
    return SILE.process(tree)
 end
diff --git a/outputters/ast.lua b/outputters/ast.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..047f53bf0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/outputters/ast.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+local base = require("outputters.base")
+
+local outputter = pl.class(base)
+outputter._name = "ast"
+outputter.extension = "ast"
+
+local outfile
+
+function outputter:_ensureInit ()
+   if not outfile then
+      local fname = self:getOutputFilename()
+      outfile = fname == "-" and io.stdout or io.open(fname, "w+")
+   end
+end
+
+function outputter:preProcess (ast)
+   self:_ensureInit()
+   local prettyprinted = pl.pretty.write(ast, "   ")
+   outfile:write(prettyprinted)
+end
+
+function outputter:finish ()
+   self:runHooks("prefinish")
+   outfile:close()
+end
+
+return outputter
diff --git a/outputters/base.lua b/outputters/base.lua
index 3ea3335e1..32ef11d3b 100644
--- a/outputters/base.lua
+++ b/outputters/base.lua
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ function outputter:runHooks (category, data)
    return data
 end
 
+function outputter:preProcess (ast)
+   return ast
+end
+
 function outputter.newPage () end
 
 function outputter:finish ()