diff --git a/build b/build
index 3e2983dcee398c1af61f36ab34166bbf71f11620..0f6723d604797c38dff9a95a3c99843ee9a86904 100755
--- a/build
+++ b/build
@@ -223,6 +223,11 @@ else
    make_target="all"
 fi
 
+# make expects VERBOSE=1, ninja expects -v
+if [[ "$make" != "make" ]] && [[ "$VERBOSE" ]]; then
+   VERBOSE="-v"
+fi
+
 $make ${VERBOSE} $make_target
 
 if [[ ${WITH_TESTS} == "yes" ]]; then