diff --git a/lib/npm.js b/lib/npm.js
index 84b22f2db5a80..df2297b215da7 100644
--- a/lib/npm.js
+++ b/lib/npm.js
@@ -93,14 +93,7 @@ class Npm {
   }
 
   async load () {
-    return time.start('npm:load', async () => {
-      const { exec } = await this.#load()
-      return {
-        exec,
-        command: this.argv.shift(),
-        args: this.argv,
-      }
-    })
+    return time.start('npm:load', () => this.#load())
   }
 
   get loaded () {
@@ -165,7 +158,26 @@ class Npm {
 
     await time.start('npm:load:configload', () => this.config.load())
 
+    // npm --versions
+    if (this.config.get('versions', 'cli')) {
+      this.argv = ['version']
+      this.config.set('usage', false, 'cli')
+    } else {
+      this.argv = [...this.config.parsedArgv.remain]
+    }
+
+    // Remove first argv since that is our command as typed
+    // Note that this might not be the actual name of the command
+    // due to aliases, etc. But we use the raw form of it later
+    // in user output so it must be preserved as is.
+    const commandArg = this.argv.shift()
+
+    // This is the actual name of the command that will be run or
+    // undefined if deref could not find a match
+    const command = deref(commandArg)
+
     await this.#display.load({
+      command,
       loglevel: this.config.get('loglevel'),
       stdoutColor: this.color,
       stderrColor: this.logColor,
@@ -202,9 +214,10 @@ class Npm {
 
     // note: this MUST be shorter than the actual argv length, because it
     // uses the same memory, so node will truncate it if it's too long.
+    // We time this because setting process.title is slow sometimes but we
+    // have to do it for security reasons. But still helpful to know how slow it is.
     time.start('npm:load:setTitle', () => {
       const { parsedArgv: { cooked, remain } } = this.config
-      this.argv = remain
       // Secrets are mostly in configs, so title is set using only the positional args
       // to keep those from being leaked.  We still do a best effort replaceInfo.
       this.#title = ['npm'].concat(replaceInfo(remain)).join(' ').trim()
@@ -244,13 +257,7 @@ class Npm {
       log.warn('using --force', 'Recommended protections disabled.')
     }
 
-    // npm --versions
-    if (this.config.get('versions', 'cli')) {
-      this.argv = ['version']
-      this.config.set('usage', false, 'cli')
-    }
-
-    return { exec: true }
+    return { exec: true, command: commandArg, args: this.argv }
   }
 
   get isShellout () {
diff --git a/lib/utils/display.js b/lib/utils/display.js
index 67c745f310415..299edc797aaf3 100644
--- a/lib/utils/display.js
+++ b/lib/utils/display.js
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@ class Display {
   #progress
 
   // options
+  #command
   #levelIndex
   #timing
   #json
@@ -159,6 +160,7 @@ class Display {
   }
 
   async load ({
+    command,
     heading,
     json,
     loglevel,
@@ -168,6 +170,7 @@ class Display {
     timing,
     unicode,
   }) {
+    this.#command = command
     // get createSupportsColor from chalk directly if this lands
     // https://github.com/chalk/chalk/pull/600
     const [{ Chalk }, { createSupportsColor }] = await Promise.all([
@@ -272,10 +275,14 @@ class Display {
       return
     }
 
-    // HACK: if it looks like the banner and we are silent do not print it.
-    // There's no other way to do this right now :(
-    // eslint-disable-next-line max-len
-    if (this.#silent && args.length === 1 && args[0].startsWith('\n> ') && args[0].endsWith('\n')) {
+    // HACK: if it looks like the banner and we are in a state where we hide the
+    // banner then dont write any output. This hack can be replaced with proc-log.META
+    const isBanner = args.length === 1 &&
+      typeof args[0] === 'string' &&
+      args[0].startsWith('\n> ') &&
+      args[0].endsWith('\n')
+    const hideBanner = this.#silent || ['exec', 'explore'].includes(this.#command)
+    if (isBanner && hideBanner) {
       return
     }
 
diff --git a/test/lib/docs.js b/test/lib/docs.js
index 7ace9b9995701..e074d556bb360 100644
--- a/test/lib/docs.js
+++ b/test/lib/docs.js
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ t.test('basic usage', async t => {
   // are generated in the following test
   const { npm } = await loadMockNpm(t, {
     mocks: {
-      '{LIB}/utils/cmd-list.js': { commands: [] },
+      '{LIB}/utils/cmd-list.js': { ...cmdList, commands: [] },
     },
     config: { userconfig: '/some/config/file/.npmrc' },
     globals: { process: { platform: 'posix' } },