diff --git a/etc/profile b/etc/profile
index 6e80b0aa83..fc415c7971 100644
--- a/etc/profile
+++ b/etc/profile
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ test -x /share/msysGit/post-checkout-hook &&
 mkdir -p /.git/hooks &&
 cp /share/msysGit/post-checkout-hook /.git/hooks/post-checkout
 
-test -f /etc/motd && sed "s/\$MESSAGE/$MESSAGE/" < /etc/motd
+test -z "$SKIP_MOTD" -a -f /etc/motd && sed "s/\$MESSAGE/$MESSAGE/" < /etc/motd
 test -x /share/msysGit/initialize.sh -a ! -d /.git &&
 cat << EOF