diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ffb3e847b9c24..e21ae1ece952c 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ META_DIR := .make
 KUBE_GOFLAGS := $(GOFLAGS)
 KUBE_GOLDFLAGS := $(GOLDFLAGS)
 
+KUBE_VERBOSE ?= 1
+
 GOGCFLAGS ?=
 BRANCH ?=
 KUBE_GOGCFLAGS = $(GOGCFLAGS)
diff --git a/Makefile.generated_files b/Makefile.generated_files
index 55c5e11547083..f8848f0d811c7 100644
--- a/Makefile.generated_files
+++ b/Makefile.generated_files
@@ -209,6 +209,7 @@ DEEPCOPY_FILES := $(addsuffix /$(DEEPCOPY_FILENAME), $(DEEPCOPY_DIRS))
 gen_deepcopy: $(DEEPCOPY_FILES)
 	if [[ -f $(META_DIR)/$(DEEPCOPY_GEN).todo ]]; then                  \
 	    ./hack/run-in-gopath.sh $(DEEPCOPY_GEN)                         \
+	        --v $(KUBE_VERBOSE)                                         \
 	        -i $$(cat $(META_DIR)/$(DEEPCOPY_GEN).todo | paste -sd, -)  \
 	        --bounding-dirs $(PRJ_SRC_PATH)                             \
 	        -O $(DEEPCOPY_BASENAME);                                    \
@@ -323,6 +324,7 @@ CONVERSION_FILES := $(addsuffix /$(CONVERSION_FILENAME), $(CONVERSION_DIRS))
 gen_conversion: $(CONVERSION_FILES)
 	if [[ -f $(META_DIR)/$(CONVERSION_GEN).todo ]]; then                  \
 	    ./hack/run-in-gopath.sh $(CONVERSION_GEN)                         \
+	        --v $(KUBE_VERBOSE)                                           \
 	        -i $$(cat $(META_DIR)/$(CONVERSION_GEN).todo | paste -sd, -)  \
 	        -O $(CONVERSION_BASENAME);                                    \
 	fi
diff --git a/cluster/lib/logging.sh b/cluster/lib/logging.sh
index 6b8f0577c232b..959f8474427c1 100644
--- a/cluster/lib/logging.sh
+++ b/cluster/lib/logging.sh
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
+# Controls verbosity of the script output and logging.
+KUBE_VERBOSE="${KUBE_VERBOSE:-5}"
+
 # Handler for when we exit automatically on an error.
 # Borrowed from https://gist.github.com/ahendrix/7030300
 kube::log::errexit() {
@@ -70,16 +73,19 @@ kube::log::error_exit() {
   local stack_skip="${3:-0}"
   stack_skip=$((stack_skip + 1))
 
-  local source_file=${BASH_SOURCE[$stack_skip]}
-  local source_line=${BASH_LINENO[$((stack_skip - 1))]}
-  echo "!!! Error in ${source_file}:${source_line}" >&2
-  [[ -z ${1-} ]] || {
-    echo "  ${1}" >&2
-  }
+  if [[ ${KUBE_VERBOSE} -ge 4 ]]; then
+    local source_file=${BASH_SOURCE[$stack_skip]}
+    local source_line=${BASH_LINENO[$((stack_skip - 1))]}
+    echo "!!! Error in ${source_file}:${source_line}" >&2
+    [[ -z ${1-} ]] || {
+      echo "  ${1}" >&2
+    }
+
+    kube::log::stack $stack_skip
 
-  kube::log::stack $stack_skip
+    echo "Exiting with status ${code}" >&2
+  fi
 
-  echo "Exiting with status ${code}" >&2
   exit "${code}"
 }
 
@@ -114,6 +120,11 @@ kube::log::usage_from_stdin() {
 
 # Print out some info that isn't a top level status line
 kube::log::info() {
+  local V="${V:-0}"
+  if [[ $KUBE_VERBOSE < $V ]]; then
+    return
+  fi
+
   for message; do
     echo "$message"
   done
@@ -137,6 +148,11 @@ kube::log::info_from_stdin() {
 
 # Print a status line.  Formatted to show up in a stream of output.
 kube::log::status() {
+  local V="${V:-0}"
+  if [[ $KUBE_VERBOSE < $V ]]; then
+    return
+  fi
+
   timestamp=$(date +"[%m%d %H:%M:%S]")
   echo "+++ $timestamp $1"
   shift
diff --git a/hack/lib/golang.sh b/hack/lib/golang.sh
index f0397b5c542f9..9c487d869a4f0 100755
--- a/hack/lib/golang.sh
+++ b/hack/lib/golang.sh
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ kube::golang::place_bins() {
   local host_platform
   host_platform=$(kube::golang::host_platform)
 
-  kube::log::status "Placing binaries"
+  V=2 kube::log::status "Placing binaries"
 
   local platform
   for platform in "${KUBE_CLIENT_PLATFORMS[@]}"; do
@@ -598,7 +598,7 @@ kube::golang::build_binaries() {
   (
     # Check for `go` binary and set ${GOPATH}.
     kube::golang::setup_env
-    echo "Go version: $(go version)"
+    V=2 kube::log::info "Go version: $(go version)"
 
     local host_platform
     host_platform=$(kube::golang::host_platform)
diff --git a/hack/make-rules/build.sh b/hack/make-rules/build.sh
index 85f5cbe69e717..472151af118c4 100755
--- a/hack/make-rules/build.sh
+++ b/hack/make-rules/build.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ set -o nounset
 set -o pipefail
 
 KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/../..
+KUBE_VERBOSE="${KUBE_VERBOSE:-1}"
 source "${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/lib/init.sh"
 
 kube::golang::build_binaries "$@"
diff --git a/hack/update-bindata.sh b/hack/update-bindata.sh
index eeed2f603400d..f021bfca2865e 100755
--- a/hack/update-bindata.sh
+++ b/hack/update-bindata.sh
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ if [[ -z "${KUBE_ROOT:-}" ]]; then
 	KUBE_ROOT="../../../"
 fi
 
+source "${KUBE_ROOT}/cluster/lib/logging.sh"
+
 if [[ ! -d "${KUBE_ROOT}/examples" ]]; then
 	echo "${KUBE_ROOT}/examples not detected.  This script should be run from a location where the source dirs are available."
 	exit 1
@@ -44,4 +46,4 @@ go-bindata -nometadata -prefix "${KUBE_ROOT}" -o ${BINDATA_OUTPUT} -pkg generate
 
 gofmt -s -w ${BINDATA_OUTPUT}
 
-echo "Generated bindata file : $(wc -l ${BINDATA_OUTPUT}) lines of lovely automated artifacts"
+V=2 kube::log::info "Generated bindata file : $(wc -l ${BINDATA_OUTPUT}) lines of lovely automated artifacts"
diff --git a/hack/verify-flags/exceptions.txt b/hack/verify-flags/exceptions.txt
index 2eede332961fa..aebe015e9d3b9 100644
--- a/hack/verify-flags/exceptions.txt
+++ b/hack/verify-flags/exceptions.txt
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ cluster/juju/layers/kubernetes/reactive/k8s.py:    client_key = '/srv/kubernetes
 cluster/juju/layers/kubernetes/reactive/k8s.py:    cluster_name = 'kubernetes'
 cluster/juju/layers/kubernetes/reactive/k8s.py:    tlslib.client_key(None, client_key, user='ubuntu', group='ubuntu')
 cluster/lib/logging.sh:      local source_file=${BASH_SOURCE[$frame_no]}
-cluster/lib/logging.sh:  local source_file=${BASH_SOURCE[$stack_skip]}
+cluster/lib/logging.sh:    local source_file=${BASH_SOURCE[$stack_skip]}
 cluster/log-dump.sh:    for node_name in "${NODE_NAMES[@]}"; do
 cluster/log-dump.sh:    local -r node_name="${1}"
 cluster/log-dump.sh:readonly report_dir="${1:-_artifacts}"