diff --git a/doc/manual/rl-next/repl-improvements.md b/doc/manual/rl-next/repl-improvements.md
index f2cbb217c..3fb25611d 100644
--- a/doc/manual/rl-next/repl-improvements.md
+++ b/doc/manual/rl-next/repl-improvements.md
@@ -10,3 +10,4 @@ The REPL has seen various minor improvements:
 
 - Better error messages overall
 - The `:env` command to print currently available variables now also works outside of debug mode
+- Adding variables to the REPL now prints a small message on success
diff --git a/lix/libcmd/repl.cc b/lix/libcmd/repl.cc
index a088e33a9..8383d1ab8 100644
--- a/lix/libcmd/repl.cc
+++ b/lix/libcmd/repl.cc
@@ -1088,8 +1088,12 @@ void NixRepl::addVarToScope(const Symbol name, Value & v)
 {
     if (displ >= envSize)
         throw Error("environment full; cannot add more variables");
-    if (auto oldVar = staticEnv->find(name); oldVar != staticEnv->vars.end())
+    if (auto oldVar = staticEnv->find(name); oldVar != staticEnv->vars.end()) {
         staticEnv->vars.erase(oldVar);
+        notice("Updated %s.", evaluator.symbols[name]);
+    } else {
+        notice("Added %s.", evaluator.symbols[name]);
+    }
     staticEnv->vars.emplace_back(name, displ);
     staticEnv->sort();
     env->values[displ++] = &v;