diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw.c b/usr.sbin/pw/pw.c
index 6769738fbe30..951abc6a0b0a 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw.c
@@ -314,6 +314,9 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		case 'o':
 			conf.checkduplicate = true;
 			break;
+		case 'q':
+			conf.quiet = true;
+			break;
 		default:
 			addarg(&arglist, ch, optarg);
 			break;
@@ -334,7 +337,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	 * We should immediately look for the -q 'quiet' switch so that we
 	 * don't bother with extraneous errors
 	 */
-	if (getarg(&arglist, 'q') != NULL)
+	if (conf.quiet)
 		freopen(_PATH_DEVNULL, "w", stderr);
 
 	/*
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_group.c b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_group.c
index 28a7c94c789d..61f0a21d90cb 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_group.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_group.c
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ pw_group(int mode, char *name, long id, struct cargs * args)
 	};
 
 	if (mode == M_NEXT)
-		return (pw_groupnext(cnf, getarg(args, 'q') != NULL));
+		return (pw_groupnext(cnf, conf.quiet));
 
 	if (mode == M_LOCK || mode == M_UNLOCK)
 		errx(EX_USAGE, "'lock' command is not available for groups");
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_user.c b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_user.c
index 298aeab87951..dc9827af0e22 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pw_user.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pw_user.c
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ pw_user(int mode, char *name, long id, struct cargs * args)
 	cnf = conf.userconf;
 
 	if (mode == M_NEXT)
-		return (pw_usernext(cnf, getarg(args, 'q') != NULL));
+		return (pw_usernext(cnf, conf.quiet));
 
 	/*
 	 * We can do all of the common legwork here
diff --git a/usr.sbin/pw/pwupd.h b/usr.sbin/pw/pwupd.h
index 37303de4e63d..be126c54a46f 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/pw/pwupd.h
+++ b/usr.sbin/pw/pwupd.h
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ struct pwconf {
 	char		*config;
 	int		 fd;
 	int		 which;
+	bool		 quiet;
 	bool		 dryrun;
 	bool		 pretty;
 	bool		 v7;