diff --git a/CONTRIBUTORS b/CONTRIBUTORS
index ed44c40d6..964ce24c0 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTORS
+++ b/CONTRIBUTORS
@@ -157,7 +157,7 @@ Marko Sisovic <msisovic13@gmail.com>
 Viktor Ricci <ricci@primateer.de>
 Harvey Randall <harveyrandall2001@gmail.com>
 Pedro Lameiras <pedrolameiras@tecnico.ulisboa.pt>
-Kai Knoblich <kai@FreeBSD.org>
+Kai Knoblich  <kai@FreeBSD.org>
 
 ********************
 
diff --git a/build/runner/src/build.rs b/build/runner/src/build.rs
index e1d4eefde..02bf58d05 100644
--- a/build/runner/src/build.rs
+++ b/build/runner/src/build.rs
@@ -60,7 +60,6 @@ pub fn run_build(args: BuildArgs) {
         .arg("-f")
         .arg(&build_file)
         .args(ninja_args)
-        .env("NINJA_STATUS", "[%f/%t; %r active; %es] ")
         .env("PATH", &path)
         .env(
             "MYPY_CACHE_DIR",
@@ -75,6 +74,10 @@ pub fn run_build(args: BuildArgs) {
         // Updating svelte-check or its deps will likely remove the need for it.
         .env("NODE_OPTIONS", "--no-experimental-fetch");
 
+    if env::var("NINJA_STATUS").is_err() {
+        command.env("NINJA_STATUS", "[%f/%t; %r active; %es] ");
+    }
+
     // run build
     let mut status = command.status().expect("ninja not installed");
     if !status.success() && Instant::now().duration_since(start_time).as_secs() < 3 {