diff --git a/src/libavrdude.h b/src/libavrdude.h
index 627d54b1..baa24b1c 100644
--- a/src/libavrdude.h
+++ b/src/libavrdude.h
@@ -1274,6 +1274,7 @@ enum updateflags {
   UF_NOWRITE = 1,
   UF_AUTO_ERASE = 2,
   UF_VERIFY = 4,
+  UF_NOHEADING = 8,
 };
 
 
diff --git a/src/term.c b/src/term.c
index 2eda2db9..e56becf7 100644
--- a/src/term.c
+++ b/src/term.c
@@ -758,7 +758,7 @@ static int cmd_backup(const PROGRAMMER *pgm, const AVRPART *p, int argc, const c
   };
 
   pgm->flush_cache(pgm, p); // Flush cache before any device memory access
-  int ret = do_op(pgm, p, &upd, UF_AUTO_ERASE); // -U argv[1]:r:file
+  int ret = do_op(pgm, p, &upd, UF_AUTO_ERASE|UF_NOHEADING); // -U argv[1]:r:file
   mmt_free(upd.filename);
   mmt_free(upd.memstr);
 
@@ -802,7 +802,7 @@ static int cmd_restore(const PROGRAMMER *pgm, const AVRPART *p, int argc, const
   };
 
   pgm->flush_cache(pgm, p); // Flush cache before any device memory access
-  int ret = do_op(pgm, p, &upd, UF_AUTO_ERASE|UF_VERIFY); // -U argv[1]:w:file (no -V)
+  int ret = do_op(pgm, p, &upd, UF_AUTO_ERASE|UF_VERIFY|UF_NOHEADING); // -U argv[1]:w:file (no -V)
   mmt_free(upd.filename);
   mmt_free(upd.memstr);
   pgm->reset_cache(pgm, p); // Reset cache after writing to memories
@@ -843,7 +843,7 @@ static int cmd_verify(const PROGRAMMER *pgm, const AVRPART *p, int argc, const c
   };
 
   pgm->flush_cache(pgm, p); // Flush cache before any device memory access
-  int ret = do_op(pgm, p, &upd, UF_AUTO_ERASE); // -V -U argv[1]:v:file
+  int ret = do_op(pgm, p, &upd, UF_AUTO_ERASE|UF_NOHEADING); // -V -U argv[1]:v:file
   mmt_free(upd.filename);
   mmt_free(upd.memstr);
 
diff --git a/src/update.c b/src/update.c
index 5823cace..9a5637a7 100644
--- a/src/update.c
+++ b/src/update.c
@@ -633,12 +633,14 @@ int do_op(const PROGRAMMER *pgm, const AVRPART *p, const UPDATE *upd, enum updat
   AVRMEM *mem, **umemlist = NULL, *m;
   Segment *seglist = NULL;
   Filestats fs;
-  char *tofree;
   const char *umstr = upd->memstr;
 
-  lmsg_info("\n");              // Ensure an empty line for visual separation of operations
-  pmsg_info("processing %s\n", tofree = update_str(upd));
-  mmt_free(tofree);
+  if(!(flags & UF_NOHEADING)) {
+    char *heading  = update_str(upd);
+    lmsg_info("\n");            // Ensure an empty line for visual separation of operations
+    pmsg_info("processing %s\n", heading);
+    mmt_free(heading);
+  }
 
   if(upd->cmdline) {
     if(!str_eq(upd->cmdline, "interactive terminal"))