diff --git a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
index 594795995..8d7c71615 100644
--- a/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
+++ b/cli/cmdlineparser.cpp
@@ -412,7 +412,7 @@ bool CmdLineParser::ParseFromArgs(int argc, const char* const argv[])
 
         // Report progress
         else if (strcmp(argv[i], "--report-progress") == 0) {
-            _settings->reportProgress = true;
+            _settings->reportProgressTime = 10;
         }
 
         // --std
diff --git a/cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp b/cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp
index ad95b0eeb..085b6d8ba 100644
--- a/cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp
+++ b/cli/cppcheckexecutor.cpp
@@ -161,7 +161,7 @@ int CppCheckExecutor::check(int argc, const char* const argv[])
         return EXIT_FAILURE;
     }
 
-    if (cppCheck.settings().reportProgress)
+    if (_settings.reportProgressTime > 0)
         time1 = std::time(0);
 
     _settings = cppCheck.settings();
@@ -247,12 +247,12 @@ void CppCheckExecutor::reportProgress(const std::string &filename, const char st
 {
     (void)filename;
 
-    if (!time1)
+    if (_settings.reportProgressTime == 0)
         return;
 
     // Report progress messages every 10 seconds
     const std::time_t time2 = std::time(NULL);
-    if (time2 >= (time1 + 10)) {
+    if (time2 >= (time1 + _settings.reportProgressTime)) {
         time1 = time2;
 
         // current time in the format "Www Mmm dd hh:mm:ss yyyy"
diff --git a/lib/settings.cpp b/lib/settings.cpp
index 4e5595bde..118fc8004 100644
--- a/lib/settings.cpp
+++ b/lib/settings.cpp
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ Settings::Settings()
     inconclusive = false;
     experimental = false;
     test_2_pass = false;
-    reportProgress = false;
+    reportProgressTime = 0;
     ifcfg = false;
     checkConfiguration = false;
 
diff --git a/lib/settings.h b/lib/settings.h
index d11536e96..f110ee62d 100644
--- a/lib/settings.h
+++ b/lib/settings.h
@@ -156,8 +156,8 @@ public:
     /** @brief Experimental 2 pass checking of files */
     bool test_2_pass;
 
-    /** @brief --report-progress */
-    bool reportProgress;
+    /** @brief 0 => don't report progress. 1-.. => report progress every T seconds */
+    unsigned char reportProgressTime;
 
     /**
      * @brief Is there any preprocessor configurations in the source code?
diff --git a/test/testcmdlineparser.cpp b/test/testcmdlineparser.cpp
index d3bce588f..13ac98063 100644
--- a/test/testcmdlineparser.cpp
+++ b/test/testcmdlineparser.cpp
@@ -616,7 +616,7 @@ private:
         Settings settings;
         CmdLineParser parser(&settings);
         ASSERT(parser.ParseFromArgs(3, argv));
-        ASSERT(settings.reportProgress);
+        ASSERT_EQUALS(10U, settings.reportProgressTime);
     }
 
     void stdposix() {