diff --git a/bitbake/bin/bitbake-getvar b/bitbake/bin/bitbake-getvar
index 4a9eb4f311..13a317e1d6 100755
--- a/bitbake/bin/bitbake-getvar
+++ b/bitbake/bin/bitbake-getvar
@@ -36,9 +36,10 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
         print("--flag only makes sense with --value")
         sys.exit(1)
 
-    with bb.tinfoil.Tinfoil(tracking=True, setup_logging=not args.quiet) as tinfoil:
+    quiet = args.quiet
+    with bb.tinfoil.Tinfoil(tracking=True, setup_logging=not quiet) as tinfoil:
         if args.recipe:
-            tinfoil.prepare(quiet=2)
+            tinfoil.prepare(quiet=3 if quiet else 2)
             d = tinfoil.parse_recipe(args.recipe)
         else:
             tinfoil.prepare(quiet=2, config_only=True)