diff --git a/misc-scripts/xref_projection/project_display_xrefs.pl b/misc-scripts/xref_projection/project_display_xrefs.pl
index 88c27ad6c87bdcbd572953225157dbec0f16d692..7a06e5513c2aeb885d0fa6030f240be05ec505ae 100644
--- a/misc-scripts/xref_projection/project_display_xrefs.pl
+++ b/misc-scripts/xref_projection/project_display_xrefs.pl
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ foreach my $to_species (@to_multi) {
   my $total_genes = scalar(keys %$homologies);
   my $last_pc = -1;
 
-  print "Percentage complete: ";
+  print "Percentage complete: " if (!$quiet);
 
   foreach my $from_stable_id (keys %$homologies) {