diff --git a/appliance/init b/appliance/init
index 8d662fa8f..04afbd66f 100755
--- a/appliance/init
+++ b/appliance/init
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ hwclock -u -s
 # Parse the kernel command line.
 if [[ $cmdline == *guestfs_verbose=1* ]]; then
     guestfs_verbose=1
+    set -x
 fi
 if [[ $cmdline == *guestfs_network=1* ]]; then
     guestfs_network=1