diff --git a/packages/webpack-cli/lib/plugins/WebpackCLIPlugin.js b/packages/webpack-cli/lib/plugins/WebpackCLIPlugin.js
index c79c8654a95..0127163c3e3 100644
--- a/packages/webpack-cli/lib/plugins/WebpackCLIPlugin.js
+++ b/packages/webpack-cli/lib/plugins/WebpackCLIPlugin.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ class WebpackCLIPlugin {
     constructor(options) {
         this.options = options;
     }
+
     async apply(compiler) {
         const compilers = compiler.compilers || [compiler];
 
@@ -18,11 +19,18 @@ class WebpackCLIPlugin {
                 let progressPluginExists;
 
                 if (compiler.options.plugins) {
-                    progressPluginExists = Boolean(compiler.options.plugins.find((e) => e instanceof ProgressPlugin));
+                    progressPluginExists = Boolean(compiler.options.plugins.find((plugin) => plugin instanceof ProgressPlugin));
                 }
 
                 if (!progressPluginExists) {
-                    new ProgressPlugin().apply(compiler);
+                    if (typeof this.options.progress === 'string' && this.options.progress !== 'profile') {
+                        logger.error(`Invalid ${this.options.progress} value for the progress option. Allowed value is profile.`);
+                        process.exit(2);
+                    }
+
+                    const isProfile = this.options.progress === 'profile';
+
+                    new ProgressPlugin({ profile: isProfile }).apply(compiler);
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/packages/webpack-cli/lib/utils/cli-flags.js b/packages/webpack-cli/lib/utils/cli-flags.js
index 807d94c0677..091097dfc64 100644
--- a/packages/webpack-cli/lib/utils/cli-flags.js
+++ b/packages/webpack-cli/lib/utils/cli-flags.js
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ const core = [
     {
         name: 'progress',
         usage: '--progress',
-        type: Boolean,
+        type: [Boolean, String],
         group: BASIC_GROUP,
         description: 'Print compilation progress during build',
     },
diff --git a/test/progress/progress-flag.test.js b/test/progress/progress-flag.test.js
index b98aad11e83..51791710922 100644
--- a/test/progress/progress-flag.test.js
+++ b/test/progress/progress-flag.test.js
@@ -4,17 +4,38 @@ const { run } = require('../utils/test-utils');
 
 describe('progress flag', () => {
     it('should show progress', () => {
-        const { stderr, stdout } = run(__dirname, ['--progress']);
+        const { stderr, stdout, exitCode } = run(__dirname, ['--progress']);
+
+        expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+        expect(stderr).not.toMatch(/\[webpack\.Progress] \d+ ms setup/);
+        expect(stderr).toContain('[webpack.Progress] 100%');
+        expect(stdout).toContain('main.js');
+    });
+
+    it('should support the "profile" value', () => {
+        const { stderr, stdout, exitCode } = run(__dirname, ['--progress=profile']);
+
+        expect(exitCode).toBe(0);
+        expect(stderr).toMatch(/\[webpack\.Progress] \d+ ms setup/);
         expect(stderr).toContain('[webpack.Progress] 100%');
         expect(stdout).toContain('main.js');
     });
 
+    it('should not support invalid value', () => {
+        const { stderr, stdout, exitCode } = run(__dirname, ['--progress=unknown']);
+
+        expect(exitCode).toBe(2);
+        expect(stderr).toContain('Invalid unknown value for the progress option. Allowed value is profile.');
+        expect(stdout).toBeFalsy();
+    });
+
     it('should not add duplicate plugins', () => {
         const { stderr, stdout, exitCode } = run(__dirname, ['-c', 'webpack.progress.config.js', '--progress']);
-        // Only 1 progress plugin should be applied to the compiler
+
+        expect(exitCode).toEqual(0);
         expect(stdout.match(/ProgressPlugin/g)).toHaveLength(1);
+        expect(stderr).not.toMatch(/\[webpack\.Progress] \d+ ms setup/);
         expect(stderr).toContain('[webpack.Progress] 100%');
         expect(stdout).toContain('main.js');
-        expect(exitCode).toEqual(0);
     });
 });