diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 022493b44b60e6257ce7fd755f94b6acb3f3d3a9..1c50acf8111022e2e847c931ea882a6389d96d96 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  ON) # this can be done with `make VERBOSE=1`
+set (CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE  OFF) # this can be done with `make VERBOSE=1`
 # ignore many irrelevant Up-to-date messages during install
 set (CMAKE_INSTALL_MESSAGE LAZY)