diff --git a/src/openscad.cc b/src/openscad.cc
index e0ac9532..7434a3a4 100644
--- a/src/openscad.cc
+++ b/src/openscad.cc
@@ -800,6 +800,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		("projection", po::value<string>(), "(o)rtho or (p)erspective when exporting png")
 		("colorscheme", po::value<string>(), "colorscheme")
 		("debug", po::value<string>(), "special debug info")
+		("quiet,q", "quiet mode (don't print anything *except* errors)")
 		("o,o", po::value<string>(), "out-file")
 		("s,s", po::value<string>(), "stl-file")
 		("x,x", po::value<string>(), "dxf-file")
@@ -835,6 +836,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		OpenSCAD::debug = vm["debug"].as<string>();
 		PRINTB("Debug on. --debug=%s",OpenSCAD::debug);
 	}
+	if (vm.count("quiet")) {
+		OpenSCAD::quiet = true;
+	}
 	if (vm.count("help")) help(argv[0]);
 	if (vm.count("version")) version();
 	if (vm.count("info")) arg_info = true;
diff --git a/src/printutils.cc b/src/printutils.cc
index 5ee32e80..6440308c 100644
--- a/src/printutils.cc
+++ b/src/printutils.cc
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ std::list<std::string> print_messages_stack;
 OutputHandlerFunc *outputhandler = NULL;
 void *outputhandler_data = NULL;
 std::string OpenSCAD::debug("");
+bool OpenSCAD::quiet = false;
 
 boost::circular_buffer<std::string> lastmessages(5);
 
@@ -63,10 +64,12 @@ void PRINT_NOCACHE(const std::string &msg)
 		else lastmessages.push_back(msg);
 	}
 
-	if (!outputhandler) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", msg.c_str());
-	} else {
-		outputhandler(msg, outputhandler_data);
+	if (!OpenSCAD::quiet || boost::starts_with(msg, "ERROR")) {
+		if (!outputhandler) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", msg.c_str());
+		} else {
+			outputhandler(msg, outputhandler_data);
+		}
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/src/printutils.h b/src/printutils.h
index 971a6211..8fd0caee 100644
--- a/src/printutils.h
+++ b/src/printutils.h
@@ -12,7 +12,10 @@ inline char * _( const char * msgid ) { return gettext( msgid ); }
 typedef void (OutputHandlerFunc)(const std::string &msg, void *userdata);
 extern OutputHandlerFunc *outputhandler;
 extern void *outputhandler_data;
-namespace OpenSCAD { extern std::string debug; }
+namespace OpenSCAD {
+	extern std::string debug;
+	extern bool quiet;
+}
 
 void set_output_handler(OutputHandlerFunc *newhandler, void *userdata);