diff --git a/cogl/tests/run-tests.sh b/cogl/tests/run-tests.sh
index 825dd1251..ce7580fbe 100755
--- a/cogl/tests/run-tests.sh
+++ b/cogl/tests/run-tests.sh
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env bash
 
+set -o pipefail
+
 if test -z "$G_DEBUG"; then
     G_DEBUG=fatal-warnings
 else
@@ -69,7 +71,12 @@ get_status()
 
 run_test()
 {
-  $("$TEST_BINARY" "$1" &> "$LOG")
+  if [ -n "${VERBOSE-}" ]; then
+    echo "running $TEST_BINARY $1:"
+    $TEST_BINARY $1 2>&1 | tee "$LOG"
+  else
+    $($TEST_BINARY $1 &> "$LOG")
+  fi
   TMP=$?
   var_name=$2_result
   eval "$var_name=$TMP"