diff --git a/include/cmake.mk b/include/cmake.mk
index 4701020f91..4c4af502cc 100644
--- a/include/cmake.mk
+++ b/include/cmake.mk
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 PKG_INSTALL:=1
 
-MAKE_FLAGS+=VERBOSE=1
+ifneq ($(findstring c,$(OPENWRT_VERBOSE)),)
+  MAKE_FLAGS+=VERBOSE=1
+endif
 
 ifeq ($(CONFIG_CCACHE),)
  ifeq ($(CONFIG_EXTERNAL_TOOLCHAIN),)