diff --git a/packages/gatsby/src/commands/build.ts b/packages/gatsby/src/commands/build.ts
index 5c9b112297c5c..2c2d156dd36a8 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/src/commands/build.ts
+++ b/packages/gatsby/src/commands/build.ts
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ import {
   markWebpackStatusAsPending,
   markWebpackStatusAsDone,
 } from "../utils/webpack-status"
-import { updateSiteMetadata } from "gatsby-core-utils"
+import { updateSiteMetadata, isTruthy } from "gatsby-core-utils"
 
 let cachedPageData
 let cachedWebpackCompilationHash
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ interface IBuildArgs extends IProgram {
 }
 
 module.exports = async function build(program: IBuildArgs): Promise<void> {
-  report.setVerbose(program.verbose)
+  report.setVerbose(isTruthy(process.env.VERBOSE) || program.verbose)
 
   if (program.profile) {
     report.warn(
diff --git a/packages/gatsby/src/commands/develop-process.ts b/packages/gatsby/src/commands/develop-process.ts
index 1309e711fe468..7935edc0c38e3 100644
--- a/packages/gatsby/src/commands/develop-process.ts
+++ b/packages/gatsby/src/commands/develop-process.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { syncStaticDir } from "../utils/get-static-dir"
 import reporter from "gatsby-cli/lib/reporter"
 import chalk from "chalk"
 import telemetry from "gatsby-telemetry"
+import { isTruthy } from "gatsby-core-utils"
 import express from "express"
 import inspector from "inspector"
 import { initTracer } from "../utils/tracer"
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ const openDebuggerPort = (debugInfo: IDebugInfo): void => {
 }
 
 module.exports = async (program: IDevelopArgs): Promise<void> => {
-  reporter.setVerbose(program.verbose)
+  reporter.setVerbose(isTruthy(process.env.VERBOSE) || program.verbose)
 
   if (program.debugInfo) {
     openDebuggerPort(program.debugInfo)