diff --git a/bin/kong b/bin/kong
index 0ed5a347e615..7bbda5894e95 100755
--- a/bin/kong
+++ b/bin/kong
@@ -141,9 +141,17 @@ package.path = (os.getenv("KONG_LUA_PATH_OVERRIDE") or "") .. "./?.lua;./?/init.
 require("kong.cmd.init")("%s", %s)
 ]], cmd_name, args_str)
 
+local resty_ngx_log_level
+if arg.vv then
+  resty_ngx_log_level = "debug"
+elseif arg.v then
+  resty_ngx_log_level = "info"
+end
+
 local resty_cmd = string.format(
-  "resty --main-conf \"%s\" --http-conf \"%s\" --stream-conf \"%s\" -e '%s'",
-  main_conf, http_conf, stream_conf, inline_code)
+  "resty %s --main-conf \"%s\" --http-conf \"%s\" --stream-conf \"%s\" -e '%s'",
+  resty_ngx_log_level and ("--errlog-level " .. resty_ngx_log_level) or "", main_conf,
+  http_conf, stream_conf, inline_code)
 
 local _, code = pl_utils.execute(resty_cmd)
 os.exit(code)
diff --git a/changelog/unreleased/kong/fix-cmd-error-log.yml b/changelog/unreleased/kong/fix-cmd-error-log.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..0c74fedac3f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/unreleased/kong/fix-cmd-error-log.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+message: |
+  Fixed an issue where some debug level error logs were not being displayed by the CLI.
+type: bugfix
+scope: CLI Command
diff --git a/spec/02-integration/02-cmd/16-verbose_spec.lua b/spec/02-integration/02-cmd/16-verbose_spec.lua
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b0993c8dfa44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/02-integration/02-cmd/16-verbose_spec.lua
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+local helpers = require "spec.helpers"
+local meta = require "kong.meta"
+
+describe("kong cli verbose output", function()
+  it("--vv outputs debug level log", function()
+    local _, stderr, stdout = assert(helpers.kong_exec("version --vv"))
+    -- globalpatches debug log will be printed by upper level resty command that runs kong.cmd
+    assert.matches("installing the globalpatches", stderr)
+    assert.matches("Kong: " .. meta._VERSION, stdout)
+  end)
+end)
diff --git a/spec/helpers.lua b/spec/helpers.lua
index 57b9fea00da3..17f226e7bd08 100644
--- a/spec/helpers.lua
+++ b/spec/helpers.lua
@@ -3312,7 +3312,8 @@ luassert:register("assertion", "partial_match", partial_match,
 -- (ok, code, stdout, stderr); if `returns` is false,
 -- returns either (false, stderr) or (true, stderr, stdout).
 function exec(cmd, returns)
-  local ok, stdout, stderr, _, code = shell.run(cmd, nil, 0)
+  --100MB for retrieving stdout & stderr
+  local ok, stdout, stderr, _, code = shell.run(cmd, nil, 0, 1024*1024*100)
   if returns then
     return ok, code, stdout, stderr
   end