diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 5e0b4f254a..9995df74ac 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ GNU_HOST_NAME := $(shell support/gnuconfig/config.guess)
 TARGETS :=
 
 # silent mode requested?
-QUIET := $(if $(findstring s,$(MAKEFLAGS)),-q)
+QUIET := $(if $(findstring s,$(filter-out --%,$(MAKEFLAGS))),-q)
 
 # Strip off the annoying quoting
 ARCH := $(call qstrip,$(BR2_ARCH))