diff --git a/doc/manual.asciidoc b/doc/manual.asciidoc
index e1ae083b05..2f9df15dd7 100644
--- a/doc/manual.asciidoc
+++ b/doc/manual.asciidoc
@@ -211,6 +211,8 @@ The default progress status is `"[%f/%t] "` (note the trailing space
 to separate from the build rule). Another example of possible progress status
 could be `"[%u/%r/%f] "`.
 
+If `NINJA_STATUS` is set to an empty string, no status updates are printed.
+
 Extra tools
 ~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/src/build.cc b/src/build.cc
index db28e658ef..d1db40fba5 100644
--- a/src/build.cc
+++ b/src/build.cc
@@ -291,7 +291,8 @@ string BuildStatus::FormatProgressStatus(
 }
 
 void BuildStatus::PrintStatus(const Edge* edge, EdgeStatus status) {
-  if (config_.verbosity == BuildConfig::QUIET)
+  if (config_.verbosity == BuildConfig::QUIET
+      || strlen(progress_status_format_) == 0)
     return;
 
   bool force_full_command = config_.verbosity == BuildConfig::VERBOSE;