diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index c8a4cb765ec196e42197e9a802f5dbfa0959ad7d..e8d40be0112729e6ab943c54e71fbdae2edf5a50 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ endif ()
 set (CORSIKA8_CMAKE_DIR "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake")
 set (CMAKE_MODULE_PATH  "${CORSIKA8_CMAKE_DIR}" ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH})
 include (CorsikaUtilities) # extra cmake function
-set (CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE  OFF) # this can be done with `make VERBOSE=1`
+set (CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE  ON) # this can be done with `make VERBOSE=1`
 # ignore many irrelevant Up-to-date messages during install
 set (CMAKE_INSTALL_MESSAGE LAZY)
 
diff --git a/modules/pythia/CMakeLists.txt b/modules/pythia/CMakeLists.txt
index 868f801d15ac9333f2f93fdd4cdf7f9876e96626..5f094400856050e253762403714f508434bacd98 100644
--- a/modules/pythia/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/modules/pythia/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ else ()
     INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS CORSIKA_Pythia8_PREFIX="${Pythia8_PREFIX}"
     )
 
-    message (STATUS "Pythia8 build at ${INSTALL_DIR}, install to ${Pythia8_INSTALL_DIR}")
+    message (STATUS "Pythia8 build at ${INSTALL_DIR}, final install to ${Pythia8_INSTALL_DIR}")
 endif ()