diff --git a/lib/build_runner.zig b/lib/build_runner.zig
index e1c3768048..a1b88f8c0b 100644
--- a/lib/build_runner.zig
+++ b/lib/build_runner.zig
@@ -278,8 +278,12 @@ pub fn main() !void {
         .windows_api => {},
     }
 
-    var progress: std.Progress = .{ .dont_print_on_dumb = true };
+    var progress: std.Progress = .{};
     const main_progress_node = progress.start("", 0);
+    if (ttyconf == .no_color) {
+        progress.timer = null;
+        progress.terminal = null;
+    }
 
     builder.debug_log_scopes = debug_log_scopes.items;
     builder.resolveInstallPrefix(install_prefix, dir_list);
@@ -302,6 +306,9 @@ pub fn main() !void {
         .enable_summary = enable_summary,
         .ttyconf = ttyconf,
         .stderr = stderr,
+
+        .step_index = 0,
+        .step_count = undefined,
     };
 
     if (run.max_rss == 0) {
@@ -332,6 +339,9 @@ const Run = struct {
     enable_summary: ?bool,
     ttyconf: std.debug.TTY.Config,
     stderr: std.fs.File,
+
+    step_count: usize,
+    step_index: usize,
 };
 
 fn runStepNames(
@@ -395,7 +405,8 @@ fn runStepNames(
     {
         defer parent_prog_node.end();
 
-        var step_prog = parent_prog_node.start("run steps", step_stack.count());
+        run.step_count = step_stack.count();
+        var step_prog = parent_prog_node.start("run steps", run.step_count);
         defer step_prog.end();
 
         var wait_group: std.Thread.WaitGroup = .{};
@@ -739,10 +750,27 @@ fn workerMakeOneStep(
     sub_prog_node.activate();
     defer sub_prog_node.end();
 
-    // I suspect we will want to pass `b` to make() in a future modification.
-    // For example, CompileStep does some sus things with modifying the saved
-    // *Build object in install header steps that might be able to be removed
-    // by passing the *Build object through the make() functions.
+    const stderr = run.stderr;
+    const ttyconf = run.ttyconf;
+
+    // If we are unable to print a fancy terminal progress bar, then we resort
+    // to 1 line printed to stderr for each step, similar to Ninja.
+    if (ttyconf == .no_color) {
+        var buf: [120]u8 = undefined;
+        const step_index = @atomicRmw(usize, &run.step_index, .Add, 1, .Monotonic);
+        const text = std.fmt.bufPrint(&buf, "[{d}/{d}] Making {s}{s}\n", .{
+            step_index + 1, run.step_count, s.owner.dep_prefix, s.name,
+        }) catch |err| switch (err) {
+            error.NoSpaceLeft => blk: {
+                buf[buf.len - 4 ..].* = "...\n".*;
+                break :blk &buf;
+            },
+        };
+        std.debug.getStderrMutex().lock();
+        defer std.debug.getStderrMutex().unlock();
+        stderr.writeAll(text) catch {};
+    }
+
     const make_result = s.make(&sub_prog_node);
 
     // No matter the result, we want to display error/warning messages.
@@ -750,9 +778,6 @@ fn workerMakeOneStep(
         sub_prog_node.context.lock_stderr();
         defer sub_prog_node.context.unlock_stderr();
 
-        const stderr = run.stderr;
-        const ttyconf = run.ttyconf;
-
         for (s.result_error_msgs.items) |msg| {
             // Sometimes it feels like you just can't catch a break. Finally,
             // with Zig, you can.