diff --git a/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py b/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py
index 0467f284605146bd3a96d9a003a43734c8a36cb5..7cb555e925ba94ffee03f2d306e24da912797115 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/bootstrap.py
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ import logging
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
-def set_environment(name, value, env=os.environ, verbose=False):
+def set_environment(name, value, env=os.environ):
     '''Function to setup the environment variable and print debug message
 
     Args:
@@ -54,14 +54,10 @@ def set_environment(name, value, env=os.environ, verbose=False):
       name: The name of the environment variable to set
       value: The value to set the environment variable to
       env: Optional environment (dictionary) where to set the variable at
-      verbose: Increases the verbosity of variable reporting
     '''
 
     env[name] = value
-    logat = logger.debug
-    if verbose:
-      logat = logger.info
-    logat('environ["%s"] = %s', name, value)
+    logger.info('environ["%s"] = %s', name, value)
     return value
 
 
diff --git a/bob/devtools/build.py b/bob/devtools/build.py
index 9a982fc696af63a1ea33ea2bc32cc4f5c88c5a49..c5f13d28844e21c5af34d14fbcfcdb7ca6254499 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/build.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/build.py
@@ -451,15 +451,13 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
 
   bootstrap.setup_logger(logger, args.verbose)
 
-  VERB = (verbose >= 2)
-
-  bootstrap.set_environment('DOCSERVER', bootstrap._SERVER, verbose=VERB)
-  bootstrap.set_environment('LANG', 'en_US.UTF-8', verbose=VERB)
-  bootstrap.set_environment('LC_ALL', os.environ['LANG'], verbose=VERB)
+  bootstrap.set_environment('DOCSERVER', bootstrap._SERVER)
+  bootstrap.set_environment('LANG', 'en_US.UTF-8')
+  bootstrap.set_environment('LC_ALL', os.environ['LANG'])
 
   # get information about the version of the package being built
   version, is_prerelease = check_version(args.work_dir, args.tag)
-  bootstrap.set_environment('BOB_PACKAGE_VERSION', version, verbose=VERB)
+  bootstrap.set_environment('BOB_PACKAGE_VERSION', version)
 
   # create the build configuration
   conda_build_config = os.path.join(mydir, 'data', 'conda_build_config.yaml')
@@ -489,8 +487,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
   # retrieve the current build number for this build
   build_number, _ = next_build_number(channels[0], args.name, version,
       args.python_version)
-  bootstrap.set_environment('BOB_BUILD_NUMBER', str(build_number),
-      verbose=VERB)
+  bootstrap.set_environment('BOB_BUILD_NUMBER', str(build_number))
 
   # runs the build using the conda-build API
   arch = conda_arch()
@@ -500,4 +497,4 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
   conda_build.api.build(os.path.join(args.work_dir, 'conda'),
       config=conda_config)
 
-  git_clean_build(bootstrap.run_cmdline, verbose=VERB)
+  git_clean_build(bootstrap.run_cmdline, verbose=(args.verbose >= 2))
diff --git a/bob/devtools/scripts/build.py b/bob/devtools/scripts/build.py
index af4efed7722b27ddffa6ea0eff3afe013374b860..c539d7780efee10b4470dd9f29b3dbade59f7a54 100644
--- a/bob/devtools/scripts/build.py
+++ b/bob/devtools/scripts/build.py
@@ -114,14 +114,14 @@ def build(recipe_dir, python, condarc, config, no_test, append_file,
   conda_config = make_conda_config(config, python, append_file,
       condarc_options)
 
-  set_environment('MATPLOTLIBRC', MATPLOTLIB_RCDIR, verbose=True)
+  set_environment('MATPLOTLIBRC', MATPLOTLIB_RCDIR)
 
   # setup BOB_DOCUMENTATION_SERVER environment variable (used for bob.extension
   # and derived documentation building via Sphinx)
-  set_environment('DOCSERVER', server, verbose=True)
+  set_environment('DOCSERVER', server)
   doc_urls = get_docserver_setup(public=(not private), stable=stable,
       server=server, intranet=ci)
-  set_environment('BOB_DOCUMENTATION_SERVER', doc_urls, verbose=True)
+  set_environment('BOB_DOCUMENTATION_SERVER', doc_urls)
 
   for d in recipe_dir:
 
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ def build(recipe_dir, python, condarc, config, no_test, append_file,
     version_candidate = os.path.join(d, '..', 'version.txt')
     if os.path.exists(version_candidate):
       version = open(version_candidate).read().rstrip()
-      set_environment('BOB_PACKAGE_VERSION', version, verbose=True)
+      set_environment('BOB_PACKAGE_VERSION', version)
 
     # pre-renders the recipe - figures out package name and version
     metadata = get_rendered_metadata(d, conda_config)
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ def build(recipe_dir, python, condarc, config, no_test, append_file,
         rendered_recipe['package']['name'],
         rendered_recipe['package']['version'], python)
 
-    set_environment('BOB_BUILD_NUMBER', str(build_number), verbose=True)
+    set_environment('BOB_BUILD_NUMBER', str(build_number))
 
     logger.info('Building %s-%s-py%s (build: %d) for %s',
         rendered_recipe['package']['name'],