diff --git a/examples/C/include.ctest.sh.in b/examples/C/include.ctest.sh.in
index fbddce14e..a8550e75d 100644
--- a/examples/C/include.ctest.sh.in
+++ b/examples/C/include.ctest.sh.in
@@ -1,11 +1,6 @@
 # examples/C include file for CMake
 
-set -ea
-# If this environment variable is set, then become verbose
-# so one can see why and how a test failed
-if test "x$ECCODES_TEST_VERBOSE_OUTPUT" != "x"; then
-   set -x
-fi
+set -eax
 
 proj_dir=@PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR@
 data_dir=@PROJECT_BINARY_DIR@/data
diff --git a/examples/C/include.sh b/examples/C/include.sh
index caba3c652..46033e998 100644
--- a/examples/C/include.sh
+++ b/examples/C/include.sh
@@ -16,12 +16,7 @@ else
   # This is for autotools
   echo
   echo "TEST: $0"
-
-  # If this environment variable is set, then become verbose
-  # so one can see why and how a test failed
-  if test "x$ECCODES_TEST_VERBOSE_OUTPUT" != "x"; then
-     set -x
-  fi
+  set -x
 
   if [ -z "${data_dir}" ]
   then
diff --git a/examples/F90/include.ctest.sh.in b/examples/F90/include.ctest.sh.in
index d1d9079a8..9b522d839 100644
--- a/examples/F90/include.ctest.sh.in
+++ b/examples/F90/include.ctest.sh.in
@@ -1,11 +1,6 @@
 # examples/F90 include file for CMake
 
-set -ea
-# If this environment variable is set, then become verbose
-# so one can see why and how a test failed
-if test "x$ECCODES_TEST_VERBOSE_OUTPUT" != "x"; then
-   set -x
-fi
+set -eax
 
 proj_dir=@PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR@
 data_dir=@PROJECT_BINARY_DIR@/data
diff --git a/examples/F90/include.sh b/examples/F90/include.sh
index 284833728..bd85956a9 100755
--- a/examples/F90/include.sh
+++ b/examples/F90/include.sh
@@ -12,17 +12,11 @@ if [ -f "$CMAKE_INCLUDE_FILE" ]; then
   . ./$CMAKE_INCLUDE_FILE
 
 else
-  set -ea
+  set -eax
 
   echo
   echo "TEST: $0"
 
-  # If this environment variable is set, then become verbose
-  # so one can see why and how a test failed
-  if test "x$ECCODES_TEST_VERBOSE_OUTPUT" != "x"; then
-     set -x
-  fi
-
   if [ -z "${data_dir}" ]
   then
     cd ../../
diff --git a/examples/python/include.ctest.sh.in b/examples/python/include.ctest.sh.in
index a812e4d05..4094adf3f 100644
--- a/examples/python/include.ctest.sh.in
+++ b/examples/python/include.ctest.sh.in
@@ -1,11 +1,6 @@
 # examples/python include file for CMake
 
-set -ea
-# If this environment variable is set, then become verbose
-# so one can see why and how a test failed
-if test "x$ECCODES_TEST_VERBOSE_OUTPUT" != "x"; then
-   set -x
-fi
+set -eax
 
 data_dir=@PROJECT_BINARY_DIR@/data
 
diff --git a/examples/python/include.sh b/examples/python/include.sh
index 53341f3df..c3aab0493 100644
--- a/examples/python/include.sh
+++ b/examples/python/include.sh
@@ -4,16 +4,10 @@ if [ -f "$CMAKE_INCLUDE_FILE" ]; then
   . ./$CMAKE_INCLUDE_FILE
 
 else
-  set -ea
+  set -eax
   echo
   echo "TEST: $0"
 
-  # If this environment variable is set, then become verbose
-  # so one can see why and how a test failed
-  if test "x$ECCODES_TEST_VERBOSE_OUTPUT" != "x"; then
-     set -x
-  fi
-
   cpath=$TOPBUILDDIR
   ECCODES_DEFINITION_PATH=$cpath/definitions
   export ECCODES_DEFINITION_PATH
diff --git a/tests/include.ctest.sh.in b/tests/include.ctest.sh.in
index c4bb7931b..886fec8b6 100644
--- a/tests/include.ctest.sh.in
+++ b/tests/include.ctest.sh.in
@@ -1,11 +1,7 @@
 set -ea
 # For CMake
 
-# If this environment variable is set, then become verbose
-# so one can see why and how a test failed
-if test "x$ECCODES_TEST_VERBOSE_OUTPUT" != "x"; then
-   set -x
-fi
+set -x
 
 proj_dir=@PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR@
 data_dir=@PROJECT_BINARY_DIR@/data
@@ -20,7 +16,7 @@ tools_dir=@CMAKE_BINARY_DIR@/bin
 tigge_dir=@CMAKE_BINARY_DIR@/bin
 
 # If this environment variable is set, then run the
-# executables with valgrind
+# test executables with valgrind
 if test "x$ECCODES_TEST_WITH_VALGRIND" != "x"; then
    tools_dir="valgrind --error-exitcode=1 -q @CMAKE_BINARY_DIR@/bin"
 fi
diff --git a/tests/include.sh b/tests/include.sh
index 8d199867b..75b23abb9 100644
--- a/tests/include.sh
+++ b/tests/include.sh
@@ -24,11 +24,7 @@ else
   # save current working dir
   save=`pwd`
 
-  # If this environment variable is set, then become verbose
-  # so one can see why and how a test failed
-  if test "x$ECCODES_TEST_VERBOSE_OUTPUT" != "x"; then
-     set -x
-  fi
+  set -x
 
   if [ -z "${data_dir}" ]
   then