diff --git a/tests/t1200-pri.sh b/tests/t1200-pri.sh
index 7d633cc..48a3067 100755
--- a/tests/t1200-pri.sh
+++ b/tests/t1200-pri.sh
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ EOF
 test_todo_session 'reprioritize' <<EOF
 >>> todo.sh pri 2 A
 2 (A) notice the sunflowers
-TODO: 2 prioritized (A).
+TODO: 2 re-prioritized from (C) to (A).
 
 >>> todo.sh -p list
 2 (A) notice the sunflowers
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ TODO: 3 of 3 tasks shown
 
 >>> todo.sh pri 2 a
 2 (A) notice the sunflowers
-TODO: 2 prioritized (A).
+TODO: 2 already prioritized (A).
 
 >>> todo.sh -p listpri
 2 (A) notice the sunflowers
diff --git a/todo.sh b/todo.sh
index f10ff37..b8ad961 100755
--- a/todo.sh
+++ b/todo.sh
@@ -1086,18 +1086,23 @@ note: PRIORITY must be anywhere from A to Z."
     [[ "$item" = +([0-9]) ]] || die "$errmsg"
     [[ "$newpri" = @([A-Z]) ]] || die "$errmsg"
 
-    sed -e $item"s/^(.) //" -e $item"s/^/($newpri) /" "$TODO_FILE" > /dev/null 2>&1
-
-    if [ "$?" -eq 0 ]; then
-        #it's all good, continue
+    oldpri=$(sed -ne $item's/^(\(.\)) .*/\1/p' "$TODO_FILE")
+    if [ "$oldpri" != "$newpri" ]; then
         sed -i.bak -e $item"s/^(.) //" -e $item"s/^/($newpri) /" "$TODO_FILE"
-        if [ $TODOTXT_VERBOSE -gt 0 ]; then
-            NEWTODO=$(sed "$item!d" "$TODO_FILE")
-            echo "$item $NEWTODO"
-            echo "TODO: $item prioritized ($newpri)."
-	fi
-    else
-        die "$errmsg"
+    fi
+    if [ $TODOTXT_VERBOSE -gt 0 ]; then
+        NEWTODO=$(sed "$item!d" "$TODO_FILE")
+        echo "$item $NEWTODO"
+        if [ "$oldpri" != "$newpri" ]; then
+            if [ "$oldpri" ]; then
+                echo "TODO: $item re-prioritized from ($oldpri) to ($newpri)."
+            else
+                echo "TODO: $item prioritized ($newpri)."
+            fi
+        fi
+    fi
+    if [ "$oldpri" = "$newpri" ]; then
+        echo "TODO: $item already prioritized ($newpri)."
     fi
     ;;