diff --git a/workspaces/arborist/lib/tracker.js b/workspaces/arborist/lib/tracker.js
index c2a456e4832cc..42c401e8799e8 100644
--- a/workspaces/arborist/lib/tracker.js
+++ b/workspaces/arborist/lib/tracker.js
@@ -1,10 +1,12 @@
 const _progress = Symbol('_progress')
 const _onError = Symbol('_onError')
+const _setProgress = Symbol('_setProgess')
 const npmlog = require('npmlog')
 
 module.exports = cls => class Tracker extends cls {
   constructor (options = {}) {
     super(options)
+    this[_setProgress] = !!options.progress
     this[_progress] = new Map()
   }
 
@@ -27,7 +29,7 @@ module.exports = cls => class Tracker extends cls {
       // 1. no existing tracker, no subsection
       // Create a new tracker from npmlog
       // starts progress bar
-      if (this[_progress].size === 0) {
+      if (this[_setProgress] && this[_progress].size === 0) {
         npmlog.enableProgress()
       }
 
@@ -76,7 +78,7 @@ module.exports = cls => class Tracker extends cls {
 
       // remove progress bar if all
       // trackers are finished
-      if (this[_progress].size === 0) {
+      if (this[_setProgress] && this[_progress].size === 0) {
         npmlog.disableProgress()
       }
     } else if (!hasTracker && subsection === null) {
@@ -92,7 +94,9 @@ module.exports = cls => class Tracker extends cls {
   }
 
   [_onError] (msg) {
-    npmlog.disableProgress()
+    if (this[_setProgress]) {
+      npmlog.disableProgress()
+    }
     throw new Error(msg)
   }
 }
diff --git a/workspaces/arborist/test/tracker.js b/workspaces/arborist/test/tracker.js
index 0c2fbb729d45e..229663919aba6 100644
--- a/workspaces/arborist/test/tracker.js
+++ b/workspaces/arborist/test/tracker.js
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 const Tracker = require('../lib/tracker.js')(class {})
 const t = require('tap')
 
-t.test('no npmlog', t => {
-  const tr = new Tracker()
+t.test('with progress', t => {
+  const tr = new Tracker({ progress: true })
   t.doesNotThrow(() => {
     tr.addTracker('testTracker')
   })
@@ -10,6 +10,10 @@ t.test('no npmlog', t => {
     tr.finishTracker('testTracker')
   })
 
+  t.throws(() => {
+    tr.addTracker()
+  }, Error, `Tracker can't be null or undefined`)
+
   t.end()
 })