diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 237f37c361a..1340431efe2 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ build: all-build
 %::
 	@if [ -x relocate-once.py ]; then ./relocate-once.py; fi
 	$(MAKE) build/make/Makefile
-	+@build/bin/sage-logger \
+	+build/bin/sage-logger \
 		"cd build/make && ./install '$@'" logs/install.log
 
 # If configure was run before, rerun it with the old arguments.
diff --git a/build/make/deps b/build/make/deps
index 18303d75495..cfa3fe167c0 100644
--- a/build/make/deps
+++ b/build/make/deps
@@ -3,6 +3,14 @@
 # $SAGE_ROOT/build/make/Makefile by $SAGE_ROOT/build/make/install
 ###############################################################################
 
+# Silent rules
+# https://www.gnu.org/software/automake/manual/html_node/Automake-Silent-Rules.html
+ifeq ($(V), 0)
+AM_V_at = @
+else
+AM_V_at =
+endif
+
 # We need to be able to override this to support ./sage -i -c PKG
 SAGE_SPKG = sage-spkg
 
@@ -82,7 +90,7 @@ start: all-build
 # sage-starts runs sage-location, which should be run after installing
 # any package.
 $(STARTED): $(STANDARD_PACKAGES)
-	@"$(SAGE_LOCAL)/bin/sage-starts"
+	$(AM_V_at)"$(SAGE_LOCAL)/bin/sage-starts"
 
 
 ###############################################################################
@@ -148,7 +156,7 @@ sagelib: \
 		$(inst_symmetrica) \
 		$(inst_zn_poly) \
 		$(EXTCODE)
-	@if [ -z "$$SAGE_INSTALL_FETCH_ONLY" ]; then \
+	$(AM_V_at)if [ -z "$$SAGE_INSTALL_FETCH_ONLY" ]; then \
 		cd $(SAGE_SRC) && source bin/sage-env && \
 		sage-logger -p 'time $(MAKE) sage' '$(SAGE_LOGS)/sagelib-$(SAGE_VERSION).log'; \
 	fi
@@ -198,23 +206,23 @@ DOC_DEPENDENCIES = sagelib $(inst_sphinx) $(inst_sagenb) \
 doc: doc-html
 
 doc-html: $(DOC_DEPENDENCIES)
-	@cd ../.. && sage-logger -p './sage --docbuild --no-pdf-links all html $(SAGE_DOCBUILD_OPTS)' logs/dochtml.log
+	$(AM_V_at)cd ../.. && sage-logger -p './sage --docbuild --no-pdf-links all html $(SAGE_DOCBUILD_OPTS)' logs/dochtml.log
 
 # 'doc-html-no-plot': build docs without building the graphics coming
 # from the '.. plot' directive, in case you want to save a few
 # megabytes of disk space. 'doc-clean' is a prerequisite because the
 # presence of graphics is cached in src/doc/output.
 doc-html-no-plot: doc-clean $(DOC_DEPENDENCIES)
-	@cd ../.. && sage-logger -p './sage --docbuild --no-pdf-links --no-plot all html $(SAGE_DOCBUILD_OPTS)' logs/dochtml.log
+	$(AM_V_at)cd ../.. && sage-logger -p './sage --docbuild --no-pdf-links --no-plot all html $(SAGE_DOCBUILD_OPTS)' logs/dochtml.log
 
 doc-html-mathjax: $(DOC_DEPENDENCIES)
-	@cd ../.. && sage-logger -p './sage --docbuild --no-pdf-links all html -j $(SAGE_DOCBUILD_OPTS)' logs/dochtml.log
+	$(AM_V_at)cd ../.. && sage-logger -p './sage --docbuild --no-pdf-links all html -j $(SAGE_DOCBUILD_OPTS)' logs/dochtml.log
 
 # Keep target 'doc-html-jsmath' for backwards compatibility.
 doc-html-jsmath: doc-html-mathjax
 
 doc-pdf: $(DOC_DEPENDENCIES)
-	@cd ../.. && sage-logger -p './sage --docbuild all pdf $(SAGE_DOCBUILD_OPTS)' logs/docpdf.log
+	$(AM_V_at)cd ../.. && sage-logger -p './sage --docbuild all pdf $(SAGE_DOCBUILD_OPTS)' logs/docpdf.log
 
 doc-clean: doc-src-clean doc-output-clean
 
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 3555703c765..6cd861ac0d8 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -933,10 +933,12 @@ while read PKG_NAME PKG_VERSION PKG_VAR; do
         DEPS=""
     fi
 
+    # Below we have to obscure A""M_V_at, or autoconf would complain:
+    # "error: possibly undefined macro: A""M_V_at"
     if [ "$TYPE" = pip ]; then
         # Special rules using PIP
         echo >&7 "$PKG_NAME:$DEPS"
-        echo >&7 "	@sage-logger -p 'sage --pip install $PKG_NAME' \$(SAGE_LOGS)/$PKG_NAME.log"
+        echo >&7 "	\$(A""M_V_at)sage-logger -p 'sage --pip install $PKG_NAME' \$(SAGE_LOGS)/$PKG_NAME.log"
         echo >&7
 
         # Add a target to remove the "installed" file for "sage -f"
@@ -946,21 +948,21 @@ while read PKG_NAME PKG_VERSION PKG_VAR; do
     elif [ "$TYPE" = script ]; then
         # Just run the spkg-install script
         echo >&7 "$PKG_NAME:$DEPS"
-        echo >&7 "	@cd '$SAGE_ROOT' && \\"
+        echo >&7 "	\$(A""M_V_at)cd '$SAGE_ROOT' && \\"
         echo >&7 "	    source '$SAGE_ROOT/src/bin/sage-env' && \\"
         echo >&7 "	    sage-logger -p '$SAGE_ROOT/build/pkgs/$PKG_NAME/spkg-install' \$(SAGE_LOGS)/$PKG_NAME.log"
         echo >&7
 
         # Just run the spkg-uninstall script if it exists
         echo >&7 "$PKG_NAME-clean:"
-        echo >&7 "	-@cd '$SAGE_ROOT' && \\"
+        echo >&7 "	-\$(A""M_V_at)cd '$SAGE_ROOT' && \\"
         echo >&7 "	    source '$SAGE_ROOT/src/bin/sage-env' && \\"
         echo >&7 "	    '$SAGE_ROOT/build/pkgs/$PKG_NAME/spkg-uninstall'"
         echo >&7
     else
         # Normal Sage packages
         echo >&7 "\$(INST)/$PKG_VERSION:$DEPS"
-        echo >&7 "	+@sage-logger -p '\$(SAGE_SPKG) $PKG_VERSION' '\$(SAGE_LOGS)/$PKG_VERSION.log'"
+        echo >&7 "	+\$(A""M_V_at)sage-logger -p '\$(SAGE_SPKG) $PKG_VERSION' '\$(SAGE_LOGS)/$PKG_VERSION.log'"
         echo >&7
 
         # Add a target with just the bare package name for "sage -i"