diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 88cff5014d23a0e4924e4c8732af729d5c8407a3..04573ccc25f35e8ddc3787b979e6f59b1c618798 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ f=${toplevel}/VERSION
 
 if [ ! -f "$f" ]; then
   touch "$f"
-  git add "$f" 2>/dev/null
+  git add "$f"
 fi
 
 old_version=$(cat $f)