diff --git a/src/libmain/progress-bar.cc b/src/libmain/progress-bar.cc
index 8d0421c2f92c2c144137b9cc4333dad937d55102..6dfc3a4d306e3ae651d005d91c2f04e6ad34f223 100644
--- a/src/libmain/progress-bar.cc
+++ b/src/libmain/progress-bar.cc
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ public:
     {
         auto state(state_.lock());
 
-        if (lvl <= verbosity && !s.empty())
+        if (lvl <= verbosity && !s.empty() && type != actBuildWaiting)
             log(*state, lvl, s + "...");
 
         state->activities.emplace_back(ActInfo());
diff --git a/src/libstore/build.cc b/src/libstore/build.cc
index de393e837fa8dc8371c5d2823f19674b98835c93..2eb78591bc6de881d36536cea016382cfff35ed4 100644
--- a/src/libstore/build.cc
+++ b/src/libstore/build.cc
@@ -869,6 +869,9 @@ private:
 
     std::unique_ptr<Activity> act;
 
+    /* Activity that denotes waiting for a lock. */
+    std::unique_ptr<Activity> actLock;
+
     std::map<ActivityId, Activity> builderActivities;
 
     /* The remote machine on which we're building. */
@@ -1439,10 +1442,15 @@ void DerivationGoal::tryToBuild()
         lockFiles.insert(worker.store.Store::toRealPath(outPath));
 
     if (!outputLocks.lockPaths(lockFiles, "", false)) {
+        if (!actLock)
+            actLock = std::make_unique<Activity>(*logger, lvlWarn, actBuildWaiting,
+                fmt("waiting for lock on %s", yellowtxt(showPaths(lockFiles))));
         worker.waitForAWhile(shared_from_this());
         return;
     }
 
+    actLock.reset();
+
     /* Now check again whether the outputs are valid.  This is because
        another process may have started building in parallel.  After
        it has finished and released the locks, we can (and should)
@@ -1481,6 +1489,7 @@ void DerivationGoal::tryToBuild()
             case rpAccept:
                 /* Yes, it has started doing so.  Wait until we get
                    EOF from the hook. */
+                actLock.reset();
                 result.startTime = time(0); // inexact
                 state = &DerivationGoal::buildDone;
                 started();
@@ -1488,6 +1497,9 @@ void DerivationGoal::tryToBuild()
             case rpPostpone:
                 /* Not now; wait until at least one child finishes or
                    the wake-up timeout expires. */
+                if (!actLock)
+                    actLock = std::make_unique<Activity>(*logger, lvlWarn, actBuildWaiting,
+                        fmt("waiting for a machine to build '%s'", yellowtxt(worker.store.printStorePath(drvPath))));
                 worker.waitForAWhile(shared_from_this());
                 outputLocks.unlock();
                 return;
@@ -1497,6 +1509,8 @@ void DerivationGoal::tryToBuild()
         }
     }
 
+    actLock.reset();
+
     /* Make sure that we are allowed to start a build.  If this
        derivation prefers to be done locally, do it even if
        maxBuildJobs is 0. */
@@ -1524,7 +1538,9 @@ void DerivationGoal::tryLocalBuild() {
                uid. */
             buildUser->kill();
         } else {
-            debug("waiting for build users");
+            if (!actLock)
+                actLock = std::make_unique<Activity>(*logger, lvlWarn, actBuildWaiting,
+                    fmt("waiting for UID to build '%s'", yellowtxt(worker.store.printStorePath(drvPath))));
             worker.waitForAWhile(shared_from_this());
             return;
         }
@@ -1535,6 +1551,8 @@ void DerivationGoal::tryLocalBuild() {
 #endif
     }
 
+    actLock.reset();
+
     try {
 
         /* Okay, we have to build. */
@@ -4863,8 +4881,6 @@ void Worker::waitForInput()
        up after a few seconds at most. */
     if (!waitingForAWhile.empty()) {
         useTimeout = true;
-        if (lastWokenUp == steady_time_point::min())
-            printInfo("waiting for locks, build slots or build users...");
         if (lastWokenUp == steady_time_point::min() || lastWokenUp > before) lastWokenUp = before;
         timeout = std::max(1L,
             (long) std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::seconds>(
diff --git a/src/libutil/logging.hh b/src/libutil/logging.hh
index b99b246c34c9c2969218d744b07a39c1e0a1015d..b1583ecede69808e75c97a615f53f45ff836112e 100644
--- a/src/libutil/logging.hh
+++ b/src/libutil/logging.hh
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ typedef enum {
     actSubstitute = 108,
     actQueryPathInfo = 109,
     actPostBuildHook = 110,
+    actBuildWaiting = 111,
 } ActivityType;
 
 typedef enum {