diff --git a/hack/verify-staging-godeps.sh b/hack/verify-staging-godeps.sh
index 7a8c5f9977f..e3d463f9c43 100755
--- a/hack/verify-staging-godeps.sh
+++ b/hack/verify-staging-godeps.sh
@@ -19,4 +19,4 @@ set -o nounset
 set -o pipefail
 
 KUBE_ROOT=$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE}")/..
-KUBE_VERBOSE=3 KUBE_RUN_COPY_OUTPUT=N ${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/update-staging-godeps.sh -d -f "$@"
+KUBE_VERBOSE="${KUBE_VERBOSE:-3}" KUBE_RUN_COPY_OUTPUT=N ${KUBE_ROOT}/hack/update-staging-godeps.sh -d -f "$@"