diff --git a/fish/fish.c b/fish/fish.c
index 461f55b8b..13f1e9904 100644
--- a/fish/fish.c
+++ b/fish/fish.c
@@ -547,6 +547,8 @@ static int
 launch (void)
 {
   if (guestfs_is_config (g)) {
+    if (isatty (0))
+      printf (_("guestfish: wait a moment while we launch libguestfs ...\n"));
     if (guestfs_launch (g) == -1)
       return -1;
   }