diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8cba50cc1..be543facb 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -78,12 +78,12 @@ ifeq (${V},0)
         CHECKCODE_ARGS	+=	--no-summary --terse
 else
         Q:=
-        ECHO:=@\#
+        ECHO:=$(ECHO_QUIET)
 endif
 
 ifneq ($(findstring s,$(filter-out --%,$(MAKEFLAGS))),)
         Q:=@
-        ECHO:=@\#
+        ECHO:=$(ECHO_QUIET)
 endif
 
 export Q ECHO
diff --git a/make_helpers/unix.mk b/make_helpers/unix.mk
index 17f8a7c27..545ddfdea 100644
--- a/make_helpers/unix.mk
+++ b/make_helpers/unix.mk
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2016-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2016-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
 #
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
 #
-#
 
 # Trusted Firmware shell command definitions for a Unix style environment.
 
@@ -11,6 +10,7 @@ ifndef UNIX_MK
     UNIX_MK := $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))
 
     ECHO_BLANK_LINE := echo
+    ECHO_QUIET := @\#
 
     DIR_DELIM := /
     PATH_SEP := :
diff --git a/make_helpers/windows.mk b/make_helpers/windows.mk
index 69f6a0171..5ab8bdc4f 100644
--- a/make_helpers/windows.mk
+++ b/make_helpers/windows.mk
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 #
-# Copyright (c) 2016-2017, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
+# Copyright (c) 2016-2018, ARM Limited and Contributors. All rights reserved.
 #
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
 #
-#
 
 # OS specific parts for builds in a Windows_NT environment. The
 # environment variable OS is set to Windows_NT on all modern Windows platforms
@@ -14,6 +13,7 @@ ifndef WINDOWS_MK
     WINDOWS_MK := $(lastword $(MAKEFILE_LIST))
 
     ECHO_BLANK_LINE := @cmd /c echo.
+    ECHO_QUIET := @rem
     DIR_DELIM := $(strip \)
     BIN_EXT   := .exe
     PATH_SEP  := ;