diff --git a/doc/src/sgml/ref/psql-ref.sgml b/doc/src/sgml/ref/psql-ref.sgml
index bdfb67cd9a1..b92a1ea02b3 100644
--- a/doc/src/sgml/ref/psql-ref.sgml
+++ b/doc/src/sgml/ref/psql-ref.sgml
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ PostgreSQL documentation
       <term><option>--echo-all</></term>
       <listitem>
       <para>
-      Print all input lines to standard output as they are read. This is more
-      useful for script processing than interactive mode. This is
+      Print all nonempty input lines to standard output as they are read.
+      (This does not apply to lines read interactively.) This is
       equivalent to setting the variable <varname>ECHO</varname> to
       <literal>all</literal>.
       </para>
@@ -2863,14 +2863,14 @@ bar
         <term><varname>ECHO</varname></term>
         <listitem>
         <para>
-        If set to <literal>all</literal>, all lines
-        entered from the keyboard or from a script are written to the standard output
-        before they are parsed or executed. To select this behavior on program
+        If set to <literal>all</literal>, all nonempty input lines are printed
+        to standard output as they are read.  (This does not apply to lines
+        read interactively.)  To select this behavior on program
         start-up, use the switch <option>-a</option>. If set to
         <literal>queries</literal>,
-        <application>psql</application> merely prints all queries as
-        they are sent to the server. The switch for this is
-        <option>-e</option>. If set to <literal>errors</literal> then only
+        <application>psql</application> prints each query to standard output
+        as it is sent to the server. The switch for this is
+        <option>-e</option>. If set to <literal>errors</literal>, then only
         failed queries are displayed on standard error output. The switch
         for this is <option>-b</option>. If unset, or if set to
         <literal>none</literal> (or any other value than those above) then
diff --git a/src/bin/psql/mainloop.c b/src/bin/psql/mainloop.c
index d2267640abe..b6cef94272c 100644
--- a/src/bin/psql/mainloop.c
+++ b/src/bin/psql/mainloop.c
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ MainLoop(FILE *source)
 			break;
 		}
 
-		/* nothing left on line? then ignore */
+		/* no further processing of empty lines, unless within a literal */
 		if (line[0] == '\0' && !psql_scan_in_quote(scan_state))
 		{
 			free(line);
@@ -211,10 +211,12 @@ MainLoop(FILE *source)
 			continue;
 		}
 
-		/* echo back if flag is set */
+		/* echo back if flag is set, unless interactive */
 		if (pset.echo == PSQL_ECHO_ALL && !pset.cur_cmd_interactive)
+		{
 			puts(line);
-		fflush(stdout);
+			fflush(stdout);
+		}
 
 		/* insert newlines into query buffer between source lines */
 		if (query_buf->len > 0)