diff --git a/bib/cmd/bootc-image-builder/main.go b/bib/cmd/bootc-image-builder/main.go
index 1aac2420..383a6958 100644
--- a/bib/cmd/bootc-image-builder/main.go
+++ b/bib/cmd/bootc-image-builder/main.go
@@ -546,18 +546,24 @@ func chownR(path string, chown string) error {
 var rootLogLevel string
 
 func rootPreRunE(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
-	if rootLogLevel == "" {
+	verbose, _ := cmd.Flags().GetBool("verbose")
+	progress, _ := cmd.Flags().GetString("progress")
+	switch {
+	case rootLogLevel != "":
+		level, err := logrus.ParseLevel(rootLogLevel)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		logrus.SetLevel(level)
+	case verbose:
+		logrus.SetLevel(logrus.InfoLevel)
+	default:
 		logrus.SetLevel(logrus.ErrorLevel)
-		return nil
 	}
-
-	level, err := logrus.ParseLevel(rootLogLevel)
-	if err != nil {
-		return err
+	if verbose && progress == "auto" {
+		cmd.Flags().Set("progress", "verbose")
 	}
 
-	logrus.SetLevel(level)
-
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -607,6 +613,7 @@ func buildCobraCmdline() (*cobra.Command, error) {
 	rootCmd.SetVersionTemplate(version)
 
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&rootLogLevel, "log-level", "", "logging level (debug, info, error); default error")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolP("verbose", "v", false, `Switch to verbose mode`)
 
 	buildCmd := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "build IMAGE_NAME",
@@ -620,7 +627,7 @@ func buildCobraCmdline() (*cobra.Command, error) {
 		SilenceUsage:          true,
 		Example: rootCmd.Use + " build quay.io/centos-bootc/centos-bootc:stream9\n" +
 			rootCmd.Use + " quay.io/centos-bootc/centos-bootc:stream9\n",
-		Version:               rootCmd.Version,
+		Version: rootCmd.Version,
 	}
 	buildCmd.SetVersionTemplate(version)
 
diff --git a/bib/cmd/bootc-image-builder/main_test.go b/bib/cmd/bootc-image-builder/main_test.go
index bfc16601..5cb5d97b 100644
--- a/bib/cmd/bootc-image-builder/main_test.go
+++ b/bib/cmd/bootc-image-builder/main_test.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
 
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -573,3 +574,48 @@ func TestCobraCmdline(t *testing.T) {
 		})
 	}
 }
+
+func TestCobraCmdlineVerbose(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, tc := range []struct {
+		cmdline             []string
+		expectedProgress    string
+		expectedLogrusLevel logrus.Level
+	}{
+		{
+			[]string{"quay.io..."},
+			"auto",
+			logrus.ErrorLevel,
+		},
+		{
+			[]string{"-v", "quay.io..."},
+			"verbose",
+			logrus.InfoLevel,
+		},
+	} {
+		restore := mockOsArgs(tc.cmdline)
+		defer restore()
+
+		rootCmd, err := main.BuildCobraCmdline()
+		assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+		// collect progressFlag value
+		var progressFlag string
+		for _, cmd := range rootCmd.Commands() {
+			cmd.RunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+				if progressFlag != "" {
+					t.Error("progressFlag set twice")
+				}
+				progressFlag, err = cmd.Flags().GetString("progress")
+				assert.NoError(t, err)
+				return nil
+			}
+		}
+
+		t.Run(tc.expectedProgress, func(t *testing.T) {
+			err = rootCmd.Execute()
+			assert.NoError(t, err)
+			assert.Equal(t, tc.expectedProgress, progressFlag)
+			assert.Equal(t, tc.expectedLogrusLevel, logrus.GetLevel())
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/test/test_opts.py b/test/test_opts.py
index 94cb5efe..28641f13 100644
--- a/test/test_opts.py
+++ b/test/test_opts.py
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ def test_bib_errors_only_once(tmp_path, container_storage, build_fake_container)
     assert res.stderr.count(needle) == 1
 
 
-@pytest.mark.parametrize("version_argument", ["version", "--version", "-v"])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("version_argument", ["version", "--version"])
 def test_bib_version(tmp_path, container_storage, build_fake_container, version_argument):
     output_path = tmp_path / "output"
     output_path.mkdir(exist_ok=True)