diff --git a/bin/ls/print.c b/bin/ls/print.c
--- a/bin/ls/print.c
+++ b/bin/ls/print.c
@@ -216,7 +216,16 @@
 
 	if ((dp->list == NULL || dp->list->fts_level != FTS_ROOTLEVEL) &&
 	    (f_longform || f_size)) {
-		(void)printf("total %lu\n", howmany(dp->btotal, blocksize));
+		u_long blocks = howmany(dp->btotal, blocksize);
+
+		if (!f_humanval)
+			(void)printf("total %lu\n", blocks);
+		else {
+			(void)humanize_number(buf, 7 /* "1024 KB" */,
+			    dp->btotal * 512, "B", HN_AUTOSCALE, HN_DECIMAL);
+
+			(void)printf("total %s in %lu blocks\n", buf, blocks);
+		}
 	}
 
 	for (p = dp->list; p; p = p->fts_link) {