diff --git a/src/cmp.rs b/src/cmp.rs
index d1121ce..1f5829c 100644
--- a/src/cmp.rs
+++ b/src/cmp.rs
@@ -36,6 +36,15 @@ pub struct Params {
     max_bytes: Option<BytesLimitU64>,
     verbose: bool,
     quiet: bool,
+    stdout_is_dev_null: bool,
+}
+
+impl Params {
+    /// Whether the difference and EOF reports are skipped. Error messages
+    /// are only hidden by `quiet`.
+    fn no_report(&self) -> bool {
+        self.quiet || self.stdout_is_dev_null
+    }
 }
 
 #[inline]
@@ -223,21 +232,21 @@ pub fn parse_params<I: Iterator<Item = OsString>>(mut opts: Peekable<I>) -> Resu
         }
     }
 
-    // Do as GNU cmp, and completely disable printing if we are
+    if params.quiet && params.verbose {
+        return Err(format!(
+            "{executable_str}: options -l and -s are incompatible"
+        ));
+    }
+
+    // Do as GNU cmp, and disable reporting the differences if we are
     // outputting to /dev/null.
     #[cfg(not(target_os = "windows"))]
     if is_stdout_dev_null() {
-        params.quiet = true;
+        params.stdout_is_dev_null = true;
         params.verbose = false;
         params.print_bytes = false;
     }
 
-    if params.quiet && params.verbose {
-        return Err(format!(
-            "{executable_str}: options -l and -s are incompatible"
-        ));
-    }
-
     params.from = if let Some(from) = from {
         from
     } else if let Some(param) = opts.next() {
@@ -316,7 +325,7 @@ pub fn cmp(params: &Params) -> Result<Cmp, String> {
 
         // If the files have different sizes, we already know they are not identical. If we have not
         // been asked to show even the first difference, we can quit early.
-        if params.quiet && a_size != b_size {
+        if params.no_report() && a_size != b_size {
             return Ok(Cmp::Different);
         }
 
@@ -630,7 +639,7 @@ fn report_eof(
     eof_on: &str,
     params: &Params,
 ) {
-    if params.quiet {
+    if params.no_report() {
         return;
     }
 
@@ -674,7 +683,7 @@ fn report_difference(
     at_line: u64,
     params: &Params,
 ) {
-    if params.quiet {
+    if params.no_report() {
         return;
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_cmp.rs b/tests/by-util/test_cmp.rs
index d7ad3a1..f4c0792 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_cmp.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_cmp.rs
@@ -61,6 +61,52 @@ fn cmp_stdin(#[case] input: &str, #[case] code: i32, #[case] expected: &str) {
         .stdout_only(expected);
 }
 
+// cmp turns the difference output off when its stdout is /dev/null.
+#[cfg(unix)]
+fn dev_null() -> std::fs::File {
+    OpenOptions::new().write(true).open("/dev/null").unwrap()
+}
+
+// Unlike -s, sending stdout to /dev/null must not hide error messages.
+#[test]
+#[cfg(unix)]
+fn cmp_dev_null_stdout_still_reports_errors() {
+    let (at, ts) = at_and_ts!();
+    at.write("a", "abc");
+
+    ts.ucmd()
+        .args(&["a", "missing"])
+        .set_stdout(dev_null())
+        .fails_with_code(2)
+        .stderr_contains("No such file or directory");
+    ts.ucmd()
+        .args(&["-l", "-s", "a"])
+        .set_stdout(dev_null())
+        .fails_with_code(2)
+        .stderr_str_check(|s| s.ends_with(": options -l and -s are incompatible\n"));
+}
+
+// The difference and EOF reports stay off when stdout is /dev/null.
+#[test]
+#[cfg(unix)]
+fn cmp_dev_null_stdout_reports_no_difference() {
+    let (at, ts) = at_and_ts!();
+    at.write("a", "abcdef");
+    at.write("shorter", "abc");
+    at.write("changed", "abcdeX");
+
+    for other in ["shorter", "changed"] {
+        for option in [&[][..], &["-l"], &["-b"]] {
+            ts.ucmd()
+                .args(option)
+                .args(&["a", other])
+                .set_stdout(dev_null())
+                .fails_with_code(1)
+                .no_stderr();
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn cmp_equal_files() {
     let (at, ts) = at_and_ts!();