diff --git a/src/Makefile.global.in b/src/Makefile.global.in
index 62fc921b80..1c9fc2bb87 100644
--- a/src/Makefile.global.in
+++ b/src/Makefile.global.in
@@ -335,7 +335,8 @@ PROVE = @PROVE@
 # There are common routines in src/test/perl, and some test suites have
 # extra perl modules in their own directory.
 PG_PROVE_FLAGS = -I $(top_srcdir)/src/test/perl/ -I $(srcdir)
-PROVE_FLAGS = --verbose
+# User-supplied prove flags such as --verbose can be provided in PROVE_FLAGS.
+
 
 # prepend to path if already set, else just set it
 define add_to_path
diff --git a/src/test/perl/README b/src/test/perl/README
index 710a0d8bc3..4279d316c4 100644
--- a/src/test/perl/README
+++ b/src/test/perl/README
@@ -14,6 +14,11 @@ src/test/ssl, or should be added to one of the suites for an existing utility.
 Note that all tests and test tools should have perltidy run on them before
 patches are submitted, using perltidy --profile=src/tools/pgindent/perltidyrc
 
+By default, to keep the noise low during runs, we do not set any flags via
+PROVE_FLAGS, but this can be done on the 'make' command line if desired, eg:
+
+make check-world PROVE_FLAGS='--verbose'
+
 Writing tests
 -------------
 
diff --git a/src/tools/msvc/vcregress.pl b/src/tools/msvc/vcregress.pl
index d757e176a7..dc976d0072 100644
--- a/src/tools/msvc/vcregress.pl
+++ b/src/tools/msvc/vcregress.pl
@@ -180,7 +180,10 @@ sub tap_check
 	my $dir = shift;
 	chdir $dir;
 
-	my @args = ("prove", "--verbose", "t/*.pl");
+	my @flags;
+	@flags = split(/\s+/,$ENV{PROVE_FLAGS}) if exists $ENV{PROVE_FLAGS};
+
+	my @args = ("prove", @flags, "t/*.pl");
 
 	# adjust the environment for just this test
 	local %ENV = %ENV;