diff --git a/test/lib/test-lib.sh b/test/lib/test-lib.sh
index c8437ff47..9794f35fe 100644
--- a/test/lib/test-lib.sh
+++ b/test/lib/test-lib.sh
@@ -11,6 +11,11 @@
 # add current directory to path, for ipfs tool.
 PATH=$(pwd)/bin:${PATH}
 
+# set sharness verbosity. we set the env var directly as
+# it's too late to pass in --verbose, and --verbose is harder
+# to pass through in some cases.
+test "$TEST_VERBOSE" = 1 && verbose=t
+
 # assert the `ipfs` we're using is the right one.
 if test `which ipfs` != $(pwd)/bin/ipfs; then
 	echo >&2 "Cannot find the tests' local ipfs tool."