diff --git a/builder/gen-dockerfile/src/Builder/GenFilesCommand.php b/builder/gen-dockerfile/src/Builder/GenFilesCommand.php
index 513d579d..7432ae88 100644
--- a/builder/gen-dockerfile/src/Builder/GenFilesCommand.php
+++ b/builder/gen-dockerfile/src/Builder/GenFilesCommand.php
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ protected function envsFromRuntimeConfig()
             ? $this->appYaml['env_variables']
             : [];
         $maps = [
+            'builder_debug_output' => 'BUILDER_DEBUG_OUTPUT',
             'document_root' => 'DOCUMENT_ROOT',
             'enable_stackdriver_integration' => self::STACKDRIVER_INTEGRATION_ENV,
             'front_controller_file' => 'FRONT_CONTROLLER_FILE',
@@ -212,6 +213,12 @@ protected function envsFromRuntimeConfig()
                         // Otherwise prepend the app dir.
                         $ret[$v] = self::APP_DIR . '/' . $runtimeConfig[$k];
                     }
+                } elseif ($v === 'BUILDER_DEBUG_OUTPUT') {
+                    $ret[$v] = filter_var(
+                        $runtimeConfig[$k], FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN
+                    )
+                        ? 'true'
+                        : 'false';
                 } else {
                     $ret[$v] = $runtimeConfig[$k];
                 }
diff --git a/php-base/build-scripts/composer.sh b/php-base/build-scripts/composer.sh
index 7213f91b..2d1dc22b 100644
--- a/php-base/build-scripts/composer.sh
+++ b/php-base/build-scripts/composer.sh
@@ -16,7 +16,12 @@
 
 
 # A shell script for installing dependencies with composer.
-set -xe
+
+if [ "${BUILDER_DEBUG_OUTPUT}" = "true" ]; then
+    set -xe
+else
+    set -e
+fi
 
 DEFAULT_PHP_VERSION="7.1"
 
@@ -24,10 +29,10 @@ if [ -f ${APP_DIR}/composer.json ]; then
     if [ -n "${DETECTED_PHP_VERSION}" ]; then
         PHP_VERSION="${DETECTED_PHP_VERSION}"
     else
+        echo "Detecting PHP version..."
         # Extract php version from the composer.json.
         CMD="php /build-scripts/detect_php_version.php ${APP_DIR}/composer.json"
         PHP_VERSION=`su www-data -c "${CMD}"`
-        echo "PHP_VERSION: ${PHP_VERSION}"
 
         if [ "${PHP_VERSION}" == "exact" ]; then
             cat<<EOF
@@ -60,13 +65,17 @@ EOF
         fi
     fi
 
+    echo "Using PHP version: ${PHP_VERSION}"
+
     # Workaround for https://github.com/docker/docker/issues/6047
     # We want to remove when Container Builder starts to use newer Docker.
     rm -rf ${APP_DIR}/vendor
 
+    echo "Install PHP extensions..."
     # Auto install extensions
     php -d auto_prepend_file='' /build-scripts/install_extensions.php ${APP_DIR}/composer.json ${PHP_DIR}/lib/conf.d/extensions.ini ${PHP_VERSION}
 
+    echo "Running composer..."
     # Run Composer.
     if [ -n "${GOOGLE_RUNTIME_RUN_COMPOSER_SCRIPT}" ]; then
         NOSCRIPT=''
diff --git a/php-base/build-scripts/lockdown.sh b/php-base/build-scripts/lockdown.sh
index c9c30bb9..b958e02f 100644
--- a/php-base/build-scripts/lockdown.sh
+++ b/php-base/build-scripts/lockdown.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,13 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-set -xe
+if [ "${BUILDER_DEBUG_OUTPUT}" = "true" ]; then
+    set -xe
+else
+    set -e
+fi
+
+echo "Locking down the document root..."
 
 # Lock down the DOCUMENT_ROOT
 chown -R root.www-data ${DOCUMENT_ROOT}
diff --git a/php-base/build-scripts/move-config-files.sh b/php-base/build-scripts/move-config-files.sh
index 04c2f71e..7fd4924c 100644
--- a/php-base/build-scripts/move-config-files.sh
+++ b/php-base/build-scripts/move-config-files.sh
@@ -14,7 +14,13 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-set -xe
+if [ "${BUILDER_DEBUG_OUTPUT}" = "true" ]; then
+    set -xe
+else
+    set -e
+fi
+
+echo "Moving user supplied config files..."
 
 # App specific piece of the nginx config file included in the http section.
 if [ -n "${NGINX_CONF_HTTP_INCLUDE}" ]; then
diff --git a/php-base/stackdriver-files/enable_stackdriver_integration.sh b/php-base/stackdriver-files/enable_stackdriver_integration.sh
index 8e3febf9..90effeb2 100644
--- a/php-base/stackdriver-files/enable_stackdriver_integration.sh
+++ b/php-base/stackdriver-files/enable_stackdriver_integration.sh
@@ -15,8 +15,15 @@
 # limitations under the License.
 
 
-# A shell script for installing composer
-set -xe
+# A shell script for enabling stackdriver integration
+
+if [ "${BUILDER_DEBUG_OUTPUT}" = "true" ]; then
+    set -xe
+else
+    set -e
+fi
+
+echo "Enabling stackdriver integration..."
 
 # To start the batch daemon
 cp /stackdriver-files/batch-daemon.conf /etc/supervisor/conf.d