diff --git a/driver.lisp b/driver.lisp
index b2643ed2e2ff74c1bb7291ddbfaec5fb32c65aca..f17a55857077dbace939990f1fb49db27b47699f 100644
--- a/driver.lisp
+++ b/driver.lisp
@@ -764,7 +764,7 @@ reading contents line by line."
   (let ((settings (get-optimization-settings)))
     (unless (equal *previous-optimization-settings* settings)
       (setf *previous-optimization-settings* settings)
-      (when *debugging*
+      (when (>= *xcvb-verbosity* 8)
 	(format! *error-output* "~&Optimization settings: ~S~%" settings)))))
 
 ;;; Performance tweaks