diff --git a/httpie/cli/argparser.py b/httpie/cli/argparser.py
index 6a62f26d..5c79a301 100644
--- a/httpie/cli/argparser.py
+++ b/httpie/cli/argparser.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ from httpie.cli.constants import (
 )
 from httpie.cli.exceptions import ParseError
 from httpie.cli.requestitems import RequestItems
-from httpie.context import Environment
+from httpie.context import Environment, DEVNULL_PATH
 from httpie.plugins.registry import plugin_manager
 from httpie.utils import ExplicitNullAuth, get_content_type
 
@@ -135,16 +135,11 @@ class HTTPieArgumentParser(argparse.ArgumentParser):
         Modify `env.stdout` and `env.stdout_isatty` based on args, if needed.
 
         """
-        if self.args.quiet:
-            self.env.stdout = self.env.devnull
-            self.env.stdout_isatty = self.env.devnull_isatty
-            self.env.stderr = self.env.devnull
-            self.env.stderr_isatty = self.env.devnull_isatty
 
         self.args.output_file_specified = bool(self.args.output_file)
         if self.args.download:
             # FIXME: Come up with a cleaner solution.
-            if not self.args.output_file and not self.env.stdout_isatty and not self.args.quiet:
+            if not self.args.output_file and not self.env.stdout_isatty:
                 # Use stdout as the download output file.
                 self.args.output_file = self.env.stdout
             # With `--download`, we write everything that would normally go to
@@ -169,6 +164,11 @@ class HTTPieArgumentParser(argparse.ArgumentParser):
             self.env.stdout = self.args.output_file
             self.env.stdout_isatty = False
 
+        if self.args.quiet:
+            self.env.devnull = open(DEVNULL_PATH, 'w')
+            self.env.stdout = self.env.devnull
+            self.env.stderr = self.env.devnull
+
     def _process_auth(self):
         # TODO: refactor & simplify this method.
         self.args.auth_plugin = None
diff --git a/httpie/context.py b/httpie/context.py
index 30010ebd..e5d20dbd 100644
--- a/httpie/context.py
+++ b/httpie/context.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ from httpie.config import DEFAULT_CONFIG_DIR, Config, ConfigFileError
 
 from httpie.utils import repr_dict
 
+DEVNULL_PATH = os.devnull
+
 
 class Environment:
     """
@@ -35,8 +37,8 @@ class Environment:
     stdout_encoding: str = None
     stderr: IO = sys.stderr
     stderr_isatty: bool = stderr.isatty()
-    devnull: IO = open(os.devnull, "w")
-    devnull_isatty: bool = devnull.isatty()
+    devnull: IO = None
+    devnull_isatty: bool = False
     colors = 256
     program_name: str = 'http'
     if not is_windows:
@@ -48,7 +50,7 @@ class Environment:
                 pass
     else:
         # noinspection PyUnresolvedReferences
-        import colorama.initialisex
+        import colorama.initialise
         stdout = colorama.initialise.wrap_stream(
             stdout, convert=None, strip=None,
             autoreset=True, wrap=True
diff --git a/tests/test_downloads.py b/tests/test_downloads.py
index 572d039f..ab6da161 100644
--- a/tests/test_downloads.py
+++ b/tests/test_downloads.py
@@ -189,3 +189,11 @@ class TestDownloads:
             assert os.listdir('.') == [expected_filename]
         finally:
             os.chdir(orig_cwd)
+
+    def test_download_quietflag(self, httpbin_both, httpbin):
+        robots_txt = '/robots.txt'
+        body = urlopen(httpbin + robots_txt).read().decode()
+        env = MockEnvironment(stdin_isatty=True, stdout_isatty=False)
+        r = http('--quiet', '--download', httpbin_both.url + robots_txt, env=env)
+        assert r.stderr == ''
+        assert body == r
diff --git a/tests/test_output.py b/tests/test_output.py
index 8282d2c7..e0a395c1 100644
--- a/tests/test_output.py
+++ b/tests/test_output.py
@@ -32,6 +32,15 @@ def test_output_option(httpbin, stdout_isatty):
     assert actual_body == expected_body
 
 
+class TestQuietFlag:
+    def test_quiet(self, httpbin):
+        r = http('--quiet', 'GET', httpbin.url + '/get')
+        # check stdin
+        assert r.stderr == ''
+        # Check stdout
+        assert str(r) == ''
+
+
 class TestVerboseFlag:
     def test_verbose(self, httpbin):
         r = http('--verbose',