diff --git a/Build/Configure.hs b/Build/Configure.hs
index 31b7ccd25e..0a0e87c3a4 100644
--- a/Build/Configure.hs
+++ b/Build/Configure.hs
@@ -10,10 +10,13 @@ import Control.Monad
 
 import Build.TestConfig
 import Build.Version
+import Utility.PartialPrelude
+import Utility.Process
 import Utility.SafeCommand
 import Utility.ExternalSHA
 import Utility.Env
 import qualified Git.Version
+import Utility.DottedVersion
 
 tests :: [TestCase]
 tests =
@@ -29,6 +32,7 @@ tests =
 	, TestCase "rsync" $ requireCmd "rsync" "rsync --version >/dev/null"
 	, TestCase "curl" $ testCmd "curl" "curl --version >/dev/null"
 	, TestCase "wget" $ testCmd "wget" "wget --version >/dev/null"
+	, TestCase "wget supports -q --show-progress" checkWgetQuietProgress
 	, TestCase "bup" $ testCmd "bup" "bup --version >/dev/null"
 	, TestCase "nice" $ testCmd "nice" "nice true >/dev/null"
 	, TestCase "ionice" $ testCmd "ionice" "ionice -c3 true >/dev/null"
@@ -96,6 +100,18 @@ getGitVersion = do
 		error $ "installed git version " ++ show v ++ " is too old! (Need " ++ show oldestallowed ++ " or newer)"
 	return $ Config "gitversion" $ StringConfig $ show v
 
+checkWgetQuietProgress :: Test
+checkWgetQuietProgress = Config "wgetquietprogress" . BoolConfig
+	. maybe False (>= normalize "1.16")
+	<$> getWgetVersion 
+
+getWgetVersion :: IO (Maybe DottedVersion)
+getWgetVersion = extract <$> readProcess "wget" ["--version"]
+  where
+	extract s = case lines s of
+		[] -> Nothing
+		(l:_) -> normalize <$> headMaybe (drop 2 $ words l)
+
 getSshConnectionCaching :: Test
 getSshConnectionCaching = Config "sshconnectioncaching" . BoolConfig <$>
 	boolSystem "sh" [Param "-c", Param "ssh -o ControlPersist=yes -V >/dev/null 2>/dev/null"]
diff --git a/Git/Version.hs b/Git/Version.hs
index 5c61f859e0..1c53b4bfd0 100644
--- a/Git/Version.hs
+++ b/Git/Version.hs
@@ -5,18 +5,16 @@
  - Licensed under the GNU GPL version 3 or higher.
  -}
 
-module Git.Version where
+module Git.Version (
+	installed,
+	normalize,
+	GitVersion,
+) where
 
 import Common
+import Utility.DottedVersion
 
-data GitVersion = GitVersion String Integer
-	deriving (Eq)
-
-instance Ord GitVersion where
-	compare (GitVersion _ x) (GitVersion _ y) = compare x y
-
-instance Show GitVersion where
-	show (GitVersion s _) = s
+type GitVersion = DottedVersion
 
 installed :: IO GitVersion
 installed = normalize . extract <$> readProcess "git" ["--version"]
@@ -24,20 +22,3 @@ installed = normalize . extract <$> readProcess "git" ["--version"]
 	extract s = case lines s of
 		[] -> ""
 		(l:_) -> unwords $ drop 2 $ words l
-
-{- To compare dotted versions like 1.7.7 and 1.8, they are normalized to
- - a somewhat arbitrary integer representation. -}
-normalize :: String -> GitVersion
-normalize v = GitVersion v $ 
-	sum $ mult 1 $ reverse $ extend precision $ take precision $
-		map readi $ split "." v
-  where
-	extend n l = l ++ replicate (n - length l) 0
-	mult _ [] = []
-	mult n (x:xs) = (n*x) : mult (n*10^width) xs
-	readi :: String -> Integer
-	readi s = case reads s of
-		((x,_):_) -> x
-		_ -> 0
-	precision = 10 -- number of segments of the version to compare
-	width = length "yyyymmddhhmmss" -- maximum width of a segment
diff --git a/Utility/DottedVersion.hs b/Utility/DottedVersion.hs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..14aa16da9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Utility/DottedVersion.hs
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+{- dotted versions, such as 1.0.1
+ -
+ - Copyright 2011-2014 Joey Hess <joey@kitenet.net>
+ -
+ - License: BSD-2-clause
+ -}
+
+module Utility.DottedVersion where
+
+import Common
+
+data DottedVersion = DottedVersion String Integer
+	deriving (Eq)
+
+instance Ord DottedVersion where
+	compare (DottedVersion _ x) (DottedVersion _ y) = compare x y
+
+instance Show DottedVersion where
+	show (DottedVersion s _) = s
+
+{- To compare dotted versions like 1.7.7 and 1.8, they are normalized to
+ - a somewhat arbitrary integer representation. -}
+normalize :: String -> DottedVersion
+normalize v = DottedVersion v $ 
+	sum $ mult 1 $ reverse $ extend precision $ take precision $
+		map readi $ split "." v
+  where
+	extend n l = l ++ replicate (n - length l) 0
+	mult _ [] = []
+	mult n (x:xs) = (n*x) : mult (n*10^width) xs
+	readi :: String -> Integer
+	readi s = case reads s of
+		((x,_):_) -> x
+		_ -> 0
+	precision = 10 -- number of segments of the version to compare
+	width = length "yyyymmddhhmmss" -- maximum width of a segment
diff --git a/Utility/Url.hs b/Utility/Url.hs
index cb950b8248..cc15c82d06 100644
--- a/Utility/Url.hs
+++ b/Utility/Url.hs
@@ -191,9 +191,18 @@ download' quiet url file uo =
 	wget = go "wget" $ headerparams ++ quietopt "-q" ++ wgetparams
 	{- Regular wget needs --clobber to continue downloading an existing
 	 - file. On Android, busybox wget is used, which does not
-	 - support, or need that option. -}
+	 - support, or need that option.
+	 -
+	 - When the wget version is new enough, pass options for
+	 - a less cluttered download display.
+	 -}
 #ifndef __ANDROID__
-	wgetparams = [Params "--clobber -c -O"]
+	wgetparams = catMaybes
+		[ if Build.SysConfig.wgetquietprogress
+			then Just $ Params "-q --show-progress"
+			else Nothing
+		, Just $ Params "--clobber -c -O"
+		]
 #else
 	wgetparams = [Params "-c -O"]
 #endif
diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 39f165d6b6..0b21cb4af4 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ git-annex (5.20141204) UNRELEASED; urgency=medium
   * Urls can now be claimed by remotes. This will allow creating,
     for example, a external special remote that handles magnet: and
     *.torrent urls.
+  * Use wget -q --show-progress for less verbose wget output,
+    when built with wget 1.16.
 
  -- Joey Hess <id@joeyh.name>  Fri, 05 Dec 2014 13:42:08 -0400