diff --git a/Documentation/Makefile b/Documentation/Makefile
index bb73dcb5ed05..023fa658a0a8 100644
--- a/Documentation/Makefile
+++ b/Documentation/Makefile
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ BUILDDIR      = $(obj)/output
 PDFLATEX      = xelatex
 LATEXOPTS     = -interaction=batchmode -no-shell-escape
 
-ifeq ($(KBUILD_VERBOSE),0)
+ifeq ($(findstring 1, $(KBUILD_VERBOSE)),)
 SPHINXOPTS    += "-q"
 endif
 
diff --git a/arch/powerpc/kernel/prom_init_check.sh b/arch/powerpc/kernel/prom_init_check.sh
index 311890d71c4c..5a319863f289 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/kernel/prom_init_check.sh
+++ b/arch/powerpc/kernel/prom_init_check.sh
@@ -51,11 +51,10 @@ do
 	# a leading . on the name, so strip it off here.
 	UNDEF="${UNDEF#.}"
 
-	if [ $KBUILD_VERBOSE ]; then
-		if [ $KBUILD_VERBOSE -ne 0 ]; then
-			echo "Checking prom_init.o symbol '$UNDEF'"
-		fi
-	fi
+	case "$KBUILD_VERBOSE" in
+	*1*)
+		echo "Checking prom_init.o symbol '$UNDEF'" ;;
+	esac
 
 	OK=0
 	for WHITE in $WHITELIST
diff --git a/certs/extract-cert.c b/certs/extract-cert.c
index 8c1fb9a70d66..70e9ec89d87d 100644
--- a/certs/extract-cert.c
+++ b/certs/extract-cert.c
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ static void drain_openssl_errors(void)
 static const char *key_pass;
 static BIO *wb;
 static char *cert_dst;
-static int kbuild_verbose;
+static bool verbose;
 
 static void write_cert(X509 *x509)
 {
@@ -90,19 +90,22 @@ static void write_cert(X509 *x509)
 	}
 	X509_NAME_oneline(X509_get_subject_name(x509), buf, sizeof(buf));
 	ERR(!i2d_X509_bio(wb, x509), "%s", cert_dst);
-	if (kbuild_verbose)
+	if (verbose)
 		fprintf(stderr, "Extracted cert: %s\n", buf);
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
 	char *cert_src;
+	char *verbose_env;
 
 	OpenSSL_add_all_algorithms();
 	ERR_load_crypto_strings();
 	ERR_clear_error();
 
-	kbuild_verbose = atoi(getenv("KBUILD_VERBOSE")?:"0");
+	verbose_env = getenv("KBUILD_VERBOSE");
+	if (verbose_env && strchr(verbose_env, '1'))
+		verbose = true;
 
         key_pass = getenv("KBUILD_SIGN_PIN");
 
diff --git a/scripts/asn1_compiler.c b/scripts/asn1_compiler.c
index 71d4a7c87900..7b6756a8c15d 100644
--- a/scripts/asn1_compiler.c
+++ b/scripts/asn1_compiler.c
@@ -567,8 +567,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	int fd;
 
 	kbuild_verbose = getenv("KBUILD_VERBOSE");
-	if (kbuild_verbose)
-		verbose_opt = atoi(kbuild_verbose);
+	if (kbuild_verbose && strchr(kbuild_verbose, '1'))
+		verbose_opt = true;
 
 	while (argc > 4) {
 		if (strcmp(argv[1], "-v") == 0)
diff --git a/scripts/kernel-doc b/scripts/kernel-doc
index 54b0893cae66..8ad0a7d68d9a 100755
--- a/scripts/kernel-doc
+++ b/scripts/kernel-doc
@@ -175,8 +175,8 @@ my $declaration_start_line;
 my ($type, $declaration_name, $return_type);
 my ($newsection, $newcontents, $prototype, $brcount, %source_map);
 
-if (defined($ENV{'KBUILD_VERBOSE'})) {
-	$verbose = "$ENV{'KBUILD_VERBOSE'}";
+if (defined($ENV{'KBUILD_VERBOSE'}) && $ENV{'KBUILD_VERBOSE'} =~ '1') {
+	$verbose = 1;
 }
 
 if (defined($ENV{'KCFLAGS'})) {