diff --git a/docs/devel/testing.rst b/docs/devel/testing.rst
index 8e1fa3a66e560c97e30e576d7343b403f4278ff1..727c4019b5203bcc0ef33b0ef9250a29f2a9ef49 100644
--- a/docs/devel/testing.rst
+++ b/docs/devel/testing.rst
@@ -434,6 +434,7 @@ Debugging
 
 Add ``DEBUG=1`` and/or ``V=1`` to the make command to allow interactive
 debugging and verbose output. If this is not enough, see the next section.
+``V=1`` will be propagated down into the make jobs in the guest.
 
 Manual invocation
 -----------------
diff --git a/tests/vm/Makefile.include b/tests/vm/Makefile.include
index a5abb569c598cab8f5278913c74cc34b6005fc6c..76f416286ea0a0188dd4c74a938580c7288d6073 100644
--- a/tests/vm/Makefile.include
+++ b/tests/vm/Makefile.include
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ vm-build-%: tests/vm/%.img
 		$(if $(V)$(DEBUG), --debug) \
 		$(if $(DEBUG), --interactive) \
 		$(if $(J),--jobs $(J)) \
+		$(if $(V),--verbose) \
 		--image "$<" \
 		--build-qemu $(SRC_PATH), \
 		"  VM-BUILD $*")
diff --git a/tests/vm/basevm.py b/tests/vm/basevm.py
index 1f1579dc9a506e7b7a41f2baa2ea1cbc58e409a6..d73cba9edb000f7ead02ab15a9ae92071e087037 100755
--- a/tests/vm/basevm.py
+++ b/tests/vm/basevm.py
@@ -211,6 +211,8 @@ def parse_args(vm_name):
                       help="force build image even if image exists")
     parser.add_option("--jobs", type=int, default=multiprocessing.cpu_count() / 2,
                       help="number of virtual CPUs")
+    parser.add_option("--verbose", "-V", action="store_true",
+                      help="Pass V=1 to builds within the guest")
     parser.add_option("--build-image", "-b", action="store_true",
                       help="build image")
     parser.add_option("--build-qemu",
@@ -241,7 +243,8 @@ def main(vmcls):
             vm.add_source_dir(args.build_qemu)
             cmd = [vm.BUILD_SCRIPT.format(
                    configure_opts = " ".join(argv),
-                   jobs=args.jobs)]
+                   jobs=args.jobs,
+                   verbose = "V=1" if args.verbose else "")]
         else:
             cmd = argv
         img = args.image
diff --git a/tests/vm/freebsd b/tests/vm/freebsd
index 2187a17327408570428a4999f3a0cd4ea66918d3..795f739c7b32fa7284503a93f51116f054b53be2 100755
--- a/tests/vm/freebsd
+++ b/tests/vm/freebsd
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ class FreeBSDVM(basevm.BaseVM):
         cd $(mktemp -d /var/tmp/qemu-test.XXXXXX);
         tar -xf /dev/vtbd1;
         ./configure {configure_opts};
-        gmake -j{jobs};
-        gmake -j{jobs} check;
+        gmake -j{jobs} {verbose};
+        gmake -j{jobs} check {verbose};
     """
 
     def build_image(self, img):
diff --git a/tests/vm/netbsd b/tests/vm/netbsd
index 2cc4798f0c40568344578a3d0b7a4ad93ec78027..c211672bcbd98adf36c80babec52c10983a1b943 100755
--- a/tests/vm/netbsd
+++ b/tests/vm/netbsd
@@ -23,8 +23,8 @@ class NetBSDVM(basevm.BaseVM):
         cd $(mktemp -d /var/tmp/qemu-test.XXXXXX);
         tar -xf /dev/rld1a;
         ./configure --python=python2.7 {configure_opts};
-        gmake -j{jobs};
-        gmake -j{jobs} check;
+        gmake -j{jobs} {verbose};
+        gmake -j{jobs} check {verbose};
     """
 
     def build_image(self, img):
diff --git a/tests/vm/openbsd b/tests/vm/openbsd
index df6b79fe7dc6c0e8775533ed0599aad12983af2b..1e0c2500ad9324be5e3e54bd724e5494c67c3013 100755
--- a/tests/vm/openbsd
+++ b/tests/vm/openbsd
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ class OpenBSDVM(basevm.BaseVM):
         cd $(mktemp -d /var/tmp/qemu-test.XXXXXX);
         tar -xf /dev/rsd1c;
         ./configure --cc=x86_64-unknown-openbsd6.1-gcc-4.9.4 --python=python2.7 {configure_opts};
-        gmake -j{jobs};
+        gmake -j{jobs} {verbose};
         # XXX: "gmake check" seems to always hang or fail
-        #gmake -j{jobs} check;
+        #gmake -j{jobs} check {verbose};
     """
 
     def build_image(self, img):
diff --git a/tests/vm/ubuntu.i386 b/tests/vm/ubuntu.i386
index 2498fc757059361dce1ae71977aa8b8405b8a15a..160b9be03459f3253cbaa5aef3e1f9d8c44d7aa8 100755
--- a/tests/vm/ubuntu.i386
+++ b/tests/vm/ubuntu.i386
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ class UbuntuX86VM(basevm.BaseVM):
         tar -xf /dev/vdb;
         ./configure {configure_opts};
         make -j{jobs};
-        make -j{jobs} check;
+        make check -j{jobs} {verbose};
     """
 
     def _gen_cloud_init_iso(self):