diff --git a/src/lib/report-lib.c b/src/lib/report-lib.c
index c0ae086..47631db 100644
--- a/src/lib/report-lib.c
+++ b/src/lib/report-lib.c
@@ -24,8 +24,16 @@
 
 #include "headers/message.h"
 
+static int gpm_silent() {
+   if ( getenv( "GPM_VERBOSE" ) == NULL ) return 1;
+   return 0;
+}
+
 void gpm_report(int line, char *file, int stat, char *text, ... )
 {
+   if ( gpm_silent() && stat != GPM_STAT_OOPS )
+      return;
+
    char *string = NULL;
    int log_level;
    va_list ap;
diff --git a/src/lib/report-lib.c.lib-silent b/src/lib/report-lib.c.lib-silent
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c0ae086
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/report-lib.c.lib-silent
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+/*
+ * report-lib.c: the exported version of gpm_report. used in Gpm_Open and co.
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2001        Nico Schottelius <nico@schottelius.org>
+ *
+ *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+ *   (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *   GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *   along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ *   Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>      /* NULL */
+#include <stdarg.h>     /* va_arg/start/... */
+#include <stdlib.h>     /* exit() */
+
+#include "headers/message.h"
+
+void gpm_report(int line, char *file, int stat, char *text, ... )
+{
+   char *string = NULL;
+   int log_level;
+   va_list ap;
+
+   if (stat == GPM_STAT_DEBUG) return;
+
+   va_start(ap,text);
+
+   switch(stat) {
+      case GPM_STAT_INFO : string = GPM_TEXT_INFO ;
+                           log_level = LOG_INFO; break;
+      case GPM_STAT_WARN : string = GPM_TEXT_WARN ;
+                           log_level = LOG_WARNING; break;
+      case GPM_STAT_ERR  : string = GPM_TEXT_ERR  ;
+                           log_level = LOG_ERR; break;
+      case GPM_STAT_DEBUG: string = GPM_TEXT_DEBUG;
+                           log_level = LOG_DEBUG; break;
+      case GPM_STAT_OOPS : string = GPM_TEXT_OOPS;
+                           log_level = LOG_CRIT; break;
+   }
+#ifdef HAVE_VSYSLOG
+   syslog(log_level, string);
+   vsyslog(log_level, text, ap);
+#else
+   fprintf(stderr,"%s[%s(%d)]:\n",string,file,line);
+   vfprintf(stderr,text,ap);
+   fprintf(stderr,"\n");
+#endif
+
+   if(stat == GPM_STAT_OOPS) exit(1);  /* may a lib function call exit ???? */
+}