diff --git a/spacy/cli/info.py b/spacy/cli/info.py
index dbacf66fc..2c97eb340 100644
--- a/spacy/cli/info.py
+++ b/spacy/cli/info.py
@@ -13,8 +13,9 @@ from .. import about
 
 @plac.annotations(
     model=("optional: shortcut link of model", "positional", None, str),
-    markdown=("generate Markdown for GitHub issues", "flag", "md", str))
-def info(model=None, markdown=False):
+    markdown=("generate Markdown for GitHub issues", "flag", "md", str),
+    silent=("don't print anything (just return)", "flag", "s"))
+def info(model=None, markdown=False, silent=False):
     """Print info about spaCy installation. If a model shortcut link is
     speficied as an argument, print model information. Flag --markdown
     prints details in Markdown for easy copy-pasting to GitHub issues.
@@ -33,14 +34,17 @@ def info(model=None, markdown=False):
             meta['source'] = path2str(model_path.resolve())
         else:
             meta['source'] = path2str(model_path)
-        print_info(meta, 'model %s' % model, markdown)
-    else:
-        data = {'spaCy version': about.__version__,
-                'Location': path2str(Path(__file__).parent.parent),
-                'Platform': platform.platform(),
-                'Python version': platform.python_version(),
-                'Models': list_models()}
+        if not silent:
+            print_info(meta, 'model %s' % model, markdown)
+        return meta
+    data = {'spaCy version': about.__version__,
+            'Location': path2str(Path(__file__).parent.parent),
+            'Platform': platform.platform(),
+            'Python version': platform.python_version(),
+            'Models': list_models()}
+    if not silent:
         print_info(data, 'spaCy', markdown)
+    return data
 
 
 def print_info(data, title, markdown):