diff --git a/make-dist b/make-dist
index bafcae35f08..111149d5b76 100755
--- a/make-dist
+++ b/make-dist
@@ -693,7 +693,7 @@ if [ "${make_tar}" = yes ]; then
    case $default_gzip in
      cat) tar $taropt -cf - $emacsname;;
      *) if tar $taropt -cf /dev/null --use-compress-program="$default_gzip" \
-	       $emacsname/src/lisp.h
+	       $emacsname/src/lisp.h >& /dev/null
 	then
 	  tar $taropt -cf - --use-compress-program="$default_gzip" $emacsname
 	else