diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 426d37de..2b0fb4f8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -68,13 +68,13 @@ check:
 	golint -set_exit_status -min_confidence 0.3 ./...
 
 test: deps
-	go test -timeout 20m -tags silent -v ./...
+	go test -timeout 20m -loglevel "CRITICAL" -v ./...
 
 test_sharness: $(sharness)
 	@sh sharness/run-sharness-tests.sh
 
 test_problem: deps
-	go test -timeout 20m -tags debug -v -run $(problematic_test)
+	go test -timeout 20m -loglevel "DEBUG" -v -run $(problematic_test)
 
 $(sharness):
 	@echo "Downloading sharness"
diff --git a/ci/Jenkinsfile b/ci/Jenkinsfile
index ddc62b77..607e0ce7 100644
--- a/ci/Jenkinsfile
+++ b/ci/Jenkinsfile
@@ -1 +1 @@
-golang([test: "go test -tags silent -v ./..."])
+golang([test: "go test -loglevel CRITICAL -v ./..."])
diff --git a/coverage.sh b/coverage.sh
index 2b1e842c..ef12c980 100755
--- a/coverage.sh
+++ b/coverage.sh
@@ -7,7 +7,15 @@ for dir in $dirs;
 do
         if ls "$dir"/*.go &> /dev/null;
         then
-            go test -timeout 20m -v -coverprofile=profile.out -covermode=count -tags silent "$dir"
+            if [ "$dir" == "." ]; then
+                set -x
+                go test -timeout 20m -v -coverprofile=profile.out -covermode=count "$dir" -loglevel "CRITICAL"
+                set +x
+            else
+                set -x
+                go test -timeout 20m -v -coverprofile=profile.out -covermode=count "$dir"
+                set +x
+            fi
             if [ $? -ne 0 ];
             then
                 exit 1
diff --git a/debug.go b/debug.go
deleted file mode 100644
index f381763b..00000000
--- a/debug.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-// +build debug,!silent
-
-package ipfscluster
-
-func init() {
-	l := "DEBUG"
-	SetFacilityLogLevel("*", l)
-
-	// for f, _ := range LoggingFacilities {
-	// 	SetFacilityLogLevel(f, l)
-	// }
-}
diff --git a/ipfs-cluster-service/main.go b/ipfs-cluster-service/main.go
index ec4c3983..3d110fea 100644
--- a/ipfs-cluster-service/main.go
+++ b/ipfs-cluster-service/main.go
@@ -504,6 +504,10 @@ func setupLogLevel(lvl string) {
 	}
 }
 
+func setupDebug() {
+	ipfscluster.SetFacilityLogLevel("*", "DEBUG")
+}
+
 func setupAllocation(name string, diskInfCfg *disk.Config, numpinInfCfg *numpin.Config) (ipfscluster.Informer, ipfscluster.PinAllocator) {
 	switch name {
 	case "disk", "disk-freespace":
@@ -525,10 +529,6 @@ func setupAllocation(name string, diskInfCfg *disk.Config, numpinInfCfg *numpin.
 	}
 }
 
-func setupDebug() {
-	ipfscluster.SetFacilityLogLevel("*", "DEBUG")
-}
-
 func saveConfig(cfg *config.Manager, force bool) {
 	if _, err := os.Stat(configPath); err == nil && !force {
 		err := fmt.Errorf("%s exists. Try running: %s -f init", configPath, programName)
diff --git a/ipfscluster_test.go b/ipfscluster_test.go
index 1249067a..37ed122b 100644
--- a/ipfscluster_test.go
+++ b/ipfscluster_test.go
@@ -32,10 +32,12 @@ import (
 //TestClusters*
 var (
 	// number of clusters to create
-	nClusters = *flag.Int("nclusters", 6, "number of clusters to use")
+	nClusters = 6
 
 	// number of pins to pin/unpin/check
-	nPins = *flag.Int("npins", 500, "number of pins to pin/unpin/check")
+	nPins = 500
+
+	logLevel = "CRITICAL"
 
 	// ports
 	clusterPort   = 10000
@@ -44,7 +46,20 @@ var (
 )
 
 func init() {
+	flag.StringVar(&logLevel, "loglevel", logLevel, "default log level for tests")
+	flag.IntVar(&nClusters, "nclusters", nClusters, "number of clusters to use")
+	flag.IntVar(&nPins, "npins", nPins, "number of pins to pin/unpin/check")
+	flag.Parse()
+
 	rand.Seed(time.Now().UnixNano())
+
+	for f := range LoggingFacilities {
+		SetFacilityLogLevel(f, logLevel)
+	}
+
+	for f := range LoggingFacilitiesExtra {
+		SetFacilityLogLevel(f, logLevel)
+	}
 }
 
 func checkErr(t *testing.T, err error) {
diff --git a/logging.go b/logging.go
index 1c88f49a..881f681c 100644
--- a/logging.go
+++ b/logging.go
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ var LoggingFacilities = map[string]string{
 
 // LoggingFacilitiesExtra provides logging identifiers
 // used in ipfs-cluster dependencies, which may be useful
-// for to display. Along with their default value.
+// to display. Along with their default value.
 var LoggingFacilitiesExtra = map[string]string{
 	"p2p-gorpc":   "CRITICAL",
 	"swarm2":      "ERROR",
diff --git a/nodebug.go b/nodebug.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 9d407f1e..00000000
--- a/nodebug.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,14 +0,0 @@
-// +build !debug,!silent
-
-package ipfscluster
-
-// These are our default log levels
-func init() {
-	for f, l := range LoggingFacilities {
-		SetFacilityLogLevel(f, l)
-	}
-
-	for f, l := range LoggingFacilitiesExtra {
-		SetFacilityLogLevel(f, l)
-	}
-}
diff --git a/silent.go b/silent.go
deleted file mode 100644
index d03e06d0..00000000
--- a/silent.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,8 +0,0 @@
-// +build !debug,silent
-
-package ipfscluster
-
-func init() {
-	l := "CRITICAL"
-	SetFacilityLogLevel("*", l)
-}