diff --git a/code/client/managedsoftwareupdate b/code/client/managedsoftwareupdate
index 3e17d953..55b8c34b 100755
--- a/code/client/managedsoftwareupdate
+++ b/code/client/managedsoftwareupdate
@@ -576,7 +576,10 @@ def main():
     # set munkicommon globals
     munkicommon.munkistatusoutput = options.munkistatusoutput
     munkicommon.verbose = options.verbose
-   
+
+    # Set environment variable for verbosity
+    os.environ['MUNKI_VERBOSITY_LEVEL'] = str(options.verbose)
+
     if options.installonly:
         # we're only installing, not checking, so we should copy
         # some report values from the prior run