diff --git a/packages/agoric-cli/lib/main.js b/packages/agoric-cli/lib/main.js
index ac1b5094505..e4c83981d99 100644
--- a/packages/agoric-cli/lib/main.js
+++ b/packages/agoric-cli/lib/main.js
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ const main = async (progname, rawArgs, powers) => {
       'host and port to connect to VM',
       '127.0.0.1:8000',
     )
+    .option('--no-browser', `just display the URL, don't open a browser`)
     .option(
       '--repl [yes | only | no]',
       'whether to show the Read-eval-print loop [yes]',
diff --git a/packages/agoric-cli/lib/open.js b/packages/agoric-cli/lib/open.js
index 17dc1289964..4cd8013cf6b 100644
--- a/packages/agoric-cli/lib/open.js
+++ b/packages/agoric-cli/lib/open.js
@@ -95,9 +95,11 @@ export default async function walletMain(progname, rawArgs, powers, opts) {
   }${suffix}#accessToken=${encodeURIComponent(walletAccessToken)}`;
 
   process.stdout.write(`${walletUrl}\n`);
-  const browser = opener(walletUrl);
-  browser.unref();
-  process.stdout.unref();
-  process.stderr.unref();
-  process.stdin.unref();
+  if (opts.browser) {
+    const browser = opener(walletUrl);
+    browser.unref();
+    process.stdout.unref();
+    process.stderr.unref();
+    process.stdin.unref();
+  }
 }