diff --git a/test/ruby/test_sprintf.rb b/test/ruby/test_sprintf.rb
index cad9f5e031..c2669a7131 100644
--- a/test/ruby/test_sprintf.rb
+++ b/test/ruby/test_sprintf.rb
@@ -179,7 +179,10 @@ class TestSprintf < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_raise(ArgumentError) { sprintf("%!", 1) }
     assert_raise(ArgumentError) { sprintf("%1$1$d", 1) }
     assert_raise(ArgumentError) { sprintf("%0%") }
+    verbose, $VERBOSE = $VERBOSE, nil
     assert_nothing_raised { sprintf("", 1) }
+  ensure
+    $VERBOSE = verbose
   end
 
   def test_float