diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 7e7f3b25e..38616e60d 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ CHANGELOG
   
 - [cli] Ensure old secret provider variables are cleaned up when changing between secret providers
   [#5545](https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/pull/5545)
+  
+- [cli] Respect logging verbosity as part of pulumi plugin install commands
+  [#5549](https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/pull/5549)
 
 - [cli] Accept `-f` as a shorthand for `--skip-preview` on `pulumi up`, `pulumi refresh` and `pulumi destroy` operations
   [#5556](https://github.com/pulumi/pulumi/pull/5556)
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/pulumi/plugin_install.go b/pkg/cmd/pulumi/plugin_install.go
index 5d65ffd37..7950d0a1c 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/pulumi/plugin_install.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/pulumi/plugin_install.go
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
+	"github.com/pulumi/pulumi/sdk/v2/go/common/util/logging"
 	"io"
 	"os"
 
@@ -34,7 +35,6 @@ func newPluginInstallCmd() *cobra.Command {
 	var exact bool
 	var file string
 	var reinstall bool
-	var verbose bool
 
 	var cmd = &cobra.Command{
 		Use:   "install [KIND NAME VERSION]",
@@ -104,18 +104,12 @@ func newPluginInstallCmd() *cobra.Command {
 				if !reinstall {
 					if exact {
 						if workspace.HasPlugin(install) {
-							if verbose {
-								cmdutil.Diag().Infoerrf(
-									diag.Message("", "%s skipping install (existing == match)"), label)
-							}
+							logging.V(1).Infof("%s skipping install (existing == match)", label)
 							continue
 						}
 					} else {
 						if has, _ := workspace.HasPluginGTE(install); has {
-							if verbose {
-								cmdutil.Diag().Infoerrf(
-									diag.Message("", "%s skipping install (existing >= match)"), label)
-							}
+							logging.V(1).Infof("%s skipping install (existing >= match)", label)
 							continue
 						}
 					}
@@ -126,10 +120,6 @@ func newPluginInstallCmd() *cobra.Command {
 				var tarball io.ReadCloser
 				var err error
 				if file == "" {
-					if verbose {
-						cmdutil.Diag().Infoerrf(
-							diag.Message("", "%s downloading from %s"), label, install.ServerURL)
-					}
 					var size int64
 					if tarball, size, err = install.Download(); err != nil {
 						return errors.Wrapf(err, "%s downloading from %s", label, install.ServerURL)
@@ -137,18 +127,12 @@ func newPluginInstallCmd() *cobra.Command {
 					tarball = workspace.ReadCloserProgressBar(tarball, size, "Downloading plugin", displayOpts.Color)
 				} else {
 					source = file
-					if verbose {
-						cmdutil.Diag().Infoerrf(
-							diag.Message("", "%s opening tarball from %s"), label, file)
-					}
+					logging.V(1).Infof("%s opening tarball from %s", label, file)
 					if tarball, err = os.Open(file); err != nil {
 						return errors.Wrapf(err, "opening file %s", source)
 					}
 				}
-				if verbose {
-					cmdutil.Diag().Infoerrf(
-						diag.Message("", "%s installing tarball ..."), label)
-				}
+				logging.V(1).Infof("%s installing tarball ...", label)
 				if err = install.Install(tarball); err != nil {
 					return errors.Wrapf(err, "installing %s from %s", label, source)
 				}
@@ -166,8 +150,6 @@ func newPluginInstallCmd() *cobra.Command {
 		"file", "f", "", "Install a plugin from a tarball file, instead of downloading it")
 	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&reinstall,
 		"reinstall", false, "Reinstall a plugin even if it already exists")
-	cmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&verbose,
-		"verbose", false, "Print detailed information about the installation steps")
 
 	return cmd
 }
diff --git a/sdk/go/common/workspace/plugins.go b/sdk/go/common/workspace/plugins.go
index 75a706fac..71cd9f6bb 100644
--- a/sdk/go/common/workspace/plugins.go
+++ b/sdk/go/common/workspace/plugins.go
@@ -198,11 +198,15 @@ func (info PluginInfo) Download() (io.ReadCloser, int64, error) {
 	}
 	serverURL = strings.TrimSuffix(serverURL, "/")
 
+	logging.V(1).Infof("%s downloading from %s", info.Name, serverURL)
+
 	// URL escape the path value to ensure we have the correct path for S3/CloudFront.
 	endpoint := fmt.Sprintf("%s/%s",
 		serverURL,
 		url.QueryEscape(fmt.Sprintf("pulumi-%s-%s-v%s-%s-%s.tar.gz", info.Kind, info.Name, info.Version, os, arch)))
 
+	logging.V(9).Infof("full plugin download url: %s", endpoint)
+
 	req, err := http.NewRequest("GET", endpoint, nil)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, -1, err
@@ -211,11 +215,15 @@ func (info PluginInfo) Download() (io.ReadCloser, int64, error) {
 	userAgent := fmt.Sprintf("pulumi-cli/1 (%s; %s)", version.Version, runtime.GOOS)
 	req.Header.Set("User-Agent", userAgent)
 
+	logging.V(9).Infof("plugin install request headers: %v", req.Header)
+
 	resp, err := httputil.DoWithRetry(req, http.DefaultClient)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, -1, err
 	}
 
+	logging.V(9).Infof("plugin install response headers: %v", resp.Header)
+
 	if resp.StatusCode < 200 || resp.StatusCode > 299 {
 		return nil, -1, errors.Errorf("%d HTTP error fetching plugin from %s", resp.StatusCode, endpoint)
 	}
@@ -293,6 +301,7 @@ func installPlugin(finalDir string, tarball io.ReadCloser) error {
 	// the directory. That's OK, just ignore the error. The temp directory created as part of the install will be
 	// cleaned up when we exit by the defer above.
 	fmt.Print("Moving plugin...")
+	logging.V(1).Infof("moving plugin from %q to %q", tempDir, finalDir)
 	if err := os.Rename(tempDir, finalDir); err != nil && !os.IsExist(err) {
 		switch err.(type) {
 		case *os.LinkError: