diff --git a/README.rst b/README.rst
index 7bddb24af..908c629b8 100644
--- a/README.rst
+++ b/README.rst
@@ -393,18 +393,25 @@ You can also specify an env file (with bashlike syntax) to load for all tasks li
 Default command verbosity
 -------------------------
 
-You can configure the verbosity level for poe commands by passing `--quiet` or
-`--verbose` on the CLI. If you want to change the default verbosity level for
-all commands, you can use the :toml:`tool.poe.verbose` option in pyproject.toml
-like so:
+You can alter the verbosity level for poe commands by passing :bash:`--quiet` /
+:bash:`-q` (which decreases verbosity) or :bash:`--verbose` / :bash:`-v` (which
+increases verbosity) on the CLI.
+
+If you want to change the default verbosity level for all commands, you can use
+the :toml:`tool.poe.verbose` option in pyproject.toml like so:
 
 .. code-block:: toml
 
   [tool.poe]
   verbosity = -1
 
-:toml:`-1` is equivalent to :bash:`--quiet` and :toml:`1` is equivalent to
-:bash:`--verbose`. :toml:`0` is the default.
+:toml:`-1` is the quietest and :toml:`1` is the most verbose. :toml:`0` is the
+default.
+
+Note that the command line arguments are incremental: :bash:`-q` subtracts one
+from the default verbosity, and :bash:`-v` adds one. So setting the default
+verbosity to :toml:`-1` and passing :bash:`-v -v` on the command line is
+equivalent to setting the verbosity to :toml:`0` and just passing :bash:`-v`.
 
 Run poe from anywhere
 ---------------------
diff --git a/poethepoet/__version__.py b/poethepoet/__version__.py
index 81332143e..a974d21dc 100644
--- a/poethepoet/__version__.py
+++ b/poethepoet/__version__.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = "0.11.0b4"
+__version__ = "0.11.0b5"
diff --git a/poethepoet/ui.py b/poethepoet/ui.py
index a53180629..b7e01146d 100644
--- a/poethepoet/ui.py
+++ b/poethepoet/ui.py
@@ -67,25 +67,22 @@ def build_parser(self) -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
             help="Print the version and exit",
         )
 
-        verbosity_group = parser.add_mutually_exclusive_group()
-        verbosity_group.add_argument(
+        parser.add_argument(
             "-v",
             "--verbose",
-            dest="verbosity",
-            action="store_const",
-            metavar="verbose_mode",
+            dest="increase_verbosity",
+            action="count",
             default=0,
-            const=1,
-            help="More console spam",
+            help="Increase command output (repeatable)",
         )
-        verbosity_group.add_argument(
+
+        parser.add_argument(
             "-q",
             "--quiet",
-            dest="verbosity",
-            action="store_const",
-            metavar="quiet_mode",
-            const=-1,
-            help="Less console spam",
+            dest="decrease_verbosity",
+            action="count",
+            default=0,
+            help="Decrease command output (repeatable)",
         )
 
         parser.add_argument(
@@ -129,12 +126,11 @@ def build_parser(self) -> argparse.ArgumentParser:
     def parse_args(self, cli_args: Sequence[str]):
         self.parser = self.build_parser()
         self.args = self.parser.parse_args(cli_args)
-        self.verbosity: int = self["verbosity"] or 0
+        self.verbosity: int = self["increase_verbosity"] - self["decrease_verbosity"]
         self._color.with_colors(self.args.ansi)
 
     def set_default_verbosity(self, default_verbosity: int):
-        if not self.verbosity:
-            self.verbosity = default_verbosity
+        self.verbosity += default_verbosity
 
     def print_help(
         self,
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 2de6b72e2..278a94edf 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "poethepoet"
-version = "0.11.0b4"
+version = "0.11.0b5"
 description = "A task runner that works well with poetry."
 authors = ["Nat Noordanus <n@natn.me>"]
 readme = "README.rst"
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index 3f60e4573..f69a0bf10 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -56,8 +56,13 @@ def scripts_project_path():
 
 
 @pytest.fixture
-def verbosity_default_project_path():
-    return PROJECT_ROOT.joinpath("tests", "fixtures", "verbosity_default")
+def low_verbosity_project_path():
+    return PROJECT_ROOT.joinpath("tests", "fixtures", "low_verbosity")
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def high_verbosity_project_path():
+    return PROJECT_ROOT.joinpath("tests", "fixtures", "high_verbosity")
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="function")
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/high_verbosity/pyproject.toml b/tests/fixtures/high_verbosity/pyproject.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c226261da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/fixtures/high_verbosity/pyproject.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+[tool.poe]
+verbosity = 1
+
+[tool.poe.tasks]
+test = "echo Hello there!"
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/verbosity_default/pyproject.toml b/tests/fixtures/low_verbosity/pyproject.toml
similarity index 100%
rename from tests/fixtures/verbosity_default/pyproject.toml
rename to tests/fixtures/low_verbosity/pyproject.toml
diff --git a/tests/test_poe_config.py b/tests/test_poe_config.py
index 56365cfc0..2734027e8 100644
--- a/tests/test_poe_config.py
+++ b/tests/test_poe_config.py
@@ -33,15 +33,34 @@ def test_setting_global_env_vars(run_poe_subproc, is_windows):
     assert result.stderr == ""
 
 
-def test_setting_default_verbosity(run_poe_subproc, verbosity_default_project_path):
-    result = run_poe_subproc("test", cwd=verbosity_default_project_path,)
+def test_setting_default_verbosity(run_poe_subproc, low_verbosity_project_path):
+    result = run_poe_subproc("test", cwd=low_verbosity_project_path,)
     assert result.capture == ""
     assert result.stdout == "Hello there!\n"
     assert result.stderr == ""
 
 
-def test_override_default_verbosity(run_poe_subproc, verbosity_default_project_path):
-    result = run_poe_subproc("-v", "test", cwd=verbosity_default_project_path,)
+def test_override_default_verbosity(run_poe_subproc, low_verbosity_project_path):
+    result = run_poe_subproc("-v", "-v", "test", cwd=low_verbosity_project_path,)
     assert result.capture == "Poe => echo Hello there!\n"
     assert result.stdout == "Hello there!\n"
     assert result.stderr == ""
+
+
+def test_partially_decrease_verbosity(run_poe_subproc, high_verbosity_project_path):
+    result = run_poe_subproc("-q", "test", cwd=high_verbosity_project_path,)
+    assert result.capture == "Poe => echo Hello there!\n"
+    assert result.stdout == "Hello there!\n"
+    assert result.stderr == ""
+
+
+def test_decrease_verbosity(run_poe_subproc, dummy_project_path, is_windows):
+    result = run_poe_subproc("-q", "part1", cwd=dummy_project_path,)
+    assert result.capture == ""
+    assert result.stderr == ""
+    if is_windows:
+        # On Windows, "echo 'Hello'" results in "'Hello'".
+        assert result.stdout == "'Hello'\n"
+    else:
+        # On UNIX, "echo 'Hello'" results in just "Hello".
+        assert result.stdout == "Hello\n"