diff --git a/tests/qemu-iotests/iotests.py b/tests/qemu-iotests/iotests.py
index 1af117e37dbf..36a7757aafb0 100644
--- a/tests/qemu-iotests/iotests.py
+++ b/tests/qemu-iotests/iotests.py
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 import struct
 import json
 import signal
+import logging
 
 
 # This will not work if arguments contain spaces but is necessary if we
@@ -467,6 +468,8 @@ def main(supported_fmts=[], supported_oses=['linux']):
     else:
         output = StringIO.StringIO()
 
+    logging.basicConfig(level=(logging.DEBUG if debug else logging.WARN))
+
     class MyTestRunner(unittest.TextTestRunner):
         def __init__(self, stream=output, descriptions=True, verbosity=verbosity):
             unittest.TextTestRunner.__init__(self, stream, descriptions, verbosity)