diff --git a/src/cli.rs b/src/cli.rs
index 2741032..58c8fa7 100644
--- a/src/cli.rs
+++ b/src/cli.rs
@@ -182,7 +182,14 @@ It's also possible to specify the preference using environment variables. See <h
             .value_name("WHEN")
             .value_parser(value_parser!(ColorWhen))
             .default_value("auto")
-            .global(true));
+            .global(true))
+        .arg(Arg::new("disable-emoji")
+            .long("disable-emoji")
+            .help("Disable emoji spinners in output").long_help("Use plain braille pattern spinners instead of emoji")
+            .display_order(HELP_ORDER_LOW)
+            .global(true)
+            .num_args(0)
+        );
 
     if include_internal {
         app = app.subcommand(
diff --git a/src/command/apply.rs b/src/command/apply.rs
index 1bcf110..afd7b67 100644
--- a/src/command/apply.rs
+++ b/src/command/apply.rs
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ Same as the targets for switch-to-configuration, with the following extra pseudo
     util::register_selector_args(command)
 }
 
-pub async fn run(_global_args: &ArgMatches, local_args: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(), ColmenaError> {
+pub async fn run(global_args: &ArgMatches, local_args: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(), ColmenaError> {
     let hive = util::hive_from_args(local_args).await?;
 
     let ssh_config = env::var("SSH_CONFIG_FILE").ok().map(PathBuf::from);
@@ -189,7 +189,10 @@ pub async fn run(_global_args: &ArgMatches, local_args: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(
     let n_targets = targets.len();
 
     let verbose = local_args.get_flag("verbose") || goal == Goal::DryActivate;
-    let mut output = SimpleProgressOutput::new(verbose);
+    let mut output = SimpleProgressOutput::new(
+        verbose,
+        !global_args.get_one("disable-emoji").unwrap_or(&false),
+    );
     let progress = output.get_sender();
 
     let mut deployment = Deployment::new(hive, targets, goal, progress);
diff --git a/src/command/apply_local.rs b/src/command/apply_local.rs
index b712a7e..80487e5 100644
--- a/src/command/apply_local.rs
+++ b/src/command/apply_local.rs
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ By default, Colmena will deploy keys set in `deployment.keys` before activating
             .num_args(1))
 }
 
-pub async fn run(_global_args: &ArgMatches, local_args: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(), ColmenaError> {
+pub async fn run(global_args: &ArgMatches, local_args: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(), ColmenaError> {
     if local_args.contains_id("sudo-command") {
         log::error!("--sudo-command has been removed. Please configure it in deployment.privilegeEscalationCommand in the node configuration.");
         quit::with_code(1);
@@ -133,7 +133,10 @@ pub async fn run(_global_args: &ArgMatches, local_args: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(
     let mut targets = HashMap::new();
     targets.insert(hostname.clone(), target);
 
-    let mut output = SimpleProgressOutput::new(verbose);
+    let mut output = SimpleProgressOutput::new(
+        verbose,
+        !global_args.get_one("disable-emoji").unwrap_or(&false),
+    );
     let progress = output.get_sender();
 
     let mut deployment = Deployment::new(hive, targets, goal, progress);
diff --git a/src/command/exec.rs b/src/command/exec.rs
index b723f6b..07d9b1b 100644
--- a/src/command/exec.rs
+++ b/src/command/exec.rs
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ It's recommended to use -- to separate Colmena options from the command to run.
     util::register_selector_args(command)
 }
 
-pub async fn run(_global_args: &ArgMatches, local_args: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(), ColmenaError> {
+pub async fn run(global_args: &ArgMatches, local_args: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(), ColmenaError> {
     let hive = util::hive_from_args(local_args).await?;
     let ssh_config = env::var("SSH_CONFIG_FILE").ok().map(PathBuf::from);
 
@@ -89,7 +89,10 @@ pub async fn run(_global_args: &ArgMatches, local_args: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(
             .collect(),
     );
 
-    let mut output = SimpleProgressOutput::new(local_args.get_flag("verbose"));
+    let mut output = SimpleProgressOutput::new(
+        local_args.get_flag("verbose"),
+        !global_args.get_one("disable-emoji").unwrap_or(&false),
+    );
 
     let (mut monitor, meta) = JobMonitor::new(output.get_sender());
 
diff --git a/src/command/test_progress.rs b/src/command/test_progress.rs
index df21980..62d313b 100644
--- a/src/command/test_progress.rs
+++ b/src/command/test_progress.rs
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ pub fn subcommand() -> ClapCommand {
         .hide(true)
 }
 
-pub async fn run(_global_args: &ArgMatches, _local_args: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(), ColmenaError> {
-    let mut output = SpinnerOutput::new();
+pub async fn run(global_args: &ArgMatches, _local_args: &ArgMatches) -> Result<(), ColmenaError> {
+    let mut output = SpinnerOutput::new(!global_args.get_one("disable-emoji").unwrap_or(&false));
     let (monitor, meta) = JobMonitor::new(output.get_sender());
 
     let meta_future = meta.run(|meta| async move {
diff --git a/src/progress/mod.rs b/src/progress/mod.rs
index a1330f9..372ef93 100644
--- a/src/progress/mod.rs
+++ b/src/progress/mod.rs
@@ -89,13 +89,13 @@ pub enum LineStyle {
 }
 
 impl SimpleProgressOutput {
-    pub fn new(verbose: bool) -> Self {
+    pub fn new(verbose: bool, emoji: bool) -> Self {
         let tty = atty::is(atty::Stream::Stdout);
 
         if verbose || !tty {
             Self::Plain(PlainOutput::new())
         } else {
-            Self::Spinner(SpinnerOutput::new())
+            Self::Spinner(SpinnerOutput::new(emoji))
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/progress/spinner.rs b/src/progress/spinner.rs
index 530851a..fdf63b0 100644
--- a/src/progress/spinner.rs
+++ b/src/progress/spinner.rs
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ pub struct SpinnerOutput {
     /// Maximum label width for alignment.
     label_width: usize,
 
+    /// Determines if emoji should be used
+    emoji: bool,
+
     multi: MultiProgress,
     sender: Option<Sender>,
     receiver: Receiver,
@@ -50,10 +53,13 @@ struct JobState {
 }
 
 impl SpinnerOutput {
-    pub fn new() -> Self {
+    pub fn new(emoji: bool) -> Self {
         let meta_bar = {
-            ProgressBar::new(100)
-                .with_style(get_spinner_style(DEFAULT_LABEL_WIDTH, LineStyle::Normal))
+            ProgressBar::new(100).with_style(get_spinner_style(
+                DEFAULT_LABEL_WIDTH,
+                LineStyle::Normal,
+                emoji,
+            ))
         };
 
         let (sender, receiver) = create_channel();
@@ -65,6 +71,7 @@ impl SpinnerOutput {
             meta_bar,
             meta_style: LineStyle::Normal,
             label_width: DEFAULT_LABEL_WIDTH,
+            emoji,
             sender: Some(sender),
             receiver,
         }
@@ -157,7 +164,7 @@ impl SpinnerOutput {
     }
 
     fn get_spinner_style(&self, style: LineStyle) -> ProgressStyle {
-        get_spinner_style(self.label_width, style)
+        get_spinner_style(self.label_width, style, self.emoji)
     }
 }
 
@@ -219,7 +226,7 @@ impl JobState {
     }
 }
 
-fn get_spinner_style(label_width: usize, style: LineStyle) -> ProgressStyle {
+fn get_spinner_style(label_width: usize, style: LineStyle, emoji: bool) -> ProgressStyle {
     let template = format!(
         "{{prefix:>{}.bold.dim}} {{spinner}} {{elapsed}} {{wide_msg}}",
         label_width
@@ -228,12 +235,16 @@ fn get_spinner_style(label_width: usize, style: LineStyle) -> ProgressStyle {
     match style {
         LineStyle::Normal | LineStyle::Success | LineStyle::SuccessNoop => {
             ProgressStyle::default_spinner()
-                .tick_chars("🕛🕐🕑🕒🕓🕔🕕🕖🕗🕘🕙🕚✅")
+                .tick_chars(if emoji {
+                    "🕛🕐🕑🕒🕓🕔🕕🕖🕗🕘🕙🕚✅"
+                } else {
+                    "⠋⠙⠹⠸⠼⠴⠦⠧⠇⠏✔"
+                })
                 .template(&template)
                 .unwrap()
         }
         LineStyle::Failure => ProgressStyle::default_spinner()
-            .tick_chars("❌❌")
+            .tick_chars(if emoji { "❌❌" } else { "✖✖" })
             .template(&template)
             .unwrap(),
     }