diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index c9f277e2cf..5486b44f6b 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
 
 - `imgur_upload()` now recognizes a global option `knitr.imgur.key` or an environment variable `R_KNITR_IMGUR_KEY` for a custom client ID (thanks, @jonthegeek, #2233).
 
-- Progress bar includes the chunk location (`chunk-name @ file:line`) (@zeehio, #2232)
+- Progress bar includes the chunk location (`chunk-name @ file:line`) when `options(knitr.progress.linenums = TRUE)` is set. (@zeehio, #2232)
 
 # CHANGES IN knitr VERSION 1.42
 
diff --git a/R/output.R b/R/output.R
index eeefa4da3e..adbc62eb61 100644
--- a/R/output.R
+++ b/R/output.R
@@ -291,16 +291,20 @@ process_file = function(text, output) {
   labels = unlist(lapply(groups, function(g) {
     if (is.list(g$params)) g[[c('params', 'label')]] else ''
   }))
-  linenums <- unlist(lapply(seq_along(groups), function(i) {
-    curr_lines <- current_lines(i)
-    sprintf(
-      "%s:%d-%d",
-      knit_concord$get('infile'),
-      curr_lines[1],
-      curr_lines[2]
-    )
-  }))
-  labels_linenums <- paste(labels, linenums, sep = " @ ")
+  if (getOption("knitr.progress.linenums", default = FALSE)) {
+    linenums <- unlist(lapply(seq_along(groups), function(i) {
+      curr_lines <- current_lines(i)
+      sprintf(
+        "%s:%d-%d",
+        knit_concord$get('infile'),
+        curr_lines[1],
+        curr_lines[2]
+      )
+    }))
+    labels_linenums <- paste(labels, linenums, sep = " @ ")
+  } else {
+    labels_linenums <- labels
+  }
   if (progress) {
     pb_fun = getOption('knitr.progress.fun', txt_pb)
     pb = if (is.function(pb_fun)) pb_fun(n, labels_linenums)