diff --git a/src/libutil/util.cc b/src/libutil/util.cc
index 5a10c69e2df..3b4c181e538 100644
--- a/src/libutil/util.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/util.cc
@@ -1515,7 +1515,7 @@ bool shouldANSI()
 {
     return isatty(STDERR_FILENO)
         && getEnv("TERM").value_or("dumb") != "dumb"
-        && !getEnv("NO_COLOR").has_value();
+        && !(getEnv("NO_COLOR").has_value() || getEnv("NOCOLOR").has_value());
 }
 
 std::string filterANSIEscapes(std::string_view s, bool filterAll, unsigned int width)