diff --git a/lib/activate/fs.c b/lib/activate/fs.c
index 883935349..1071a3678 100644
--- a/lib/activate/fs.c
+++ b/lib/activate/fs.c
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ static int _rm_dir(struct volume_group *vg)
 
 	if (!build_vg_path(vg_path, sizeof(vg_path),
 			   vg->cmd->dev_dir, vg->name)) {
-		log_err("Couldn't remove volume group directory.");
+		log_error("Couldn't construct name of volume group dir for %s",
+			  vg->name);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -62,16 +63,16 @@ static int _mk_link(struct logical_volume *lv)
 	struct stat buf;
 
 	if (!build_dm_path(lv_path, sizeof(lv_path), lv->vg->name, lv->name)) {
-		log_err("Couldn't create destination path for "
-			"logical volume link.");
+		log_error("Couldn't create destination pathname for "
+			  "logical volume link for %s", lv->name);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
 	if (!build_lv_link_path(link_path, sizeof(link_path),
 				lv->vg->cmd->dev_dir,
 				lv->vg->name, lv->name)) {
-		log_err("Couldn't create source path for "
-			"logical volume link.");
+		log_error("Couldn't create source pathname for "
+			  "logical volume link %s", lv->name);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -107,7 +108,7 @@ static int _rm_link(struct logical_volume *lv, const char *lv_name)
 	if (!build_lv_link_path(link_path, sizeof(link_path),
 				lv->vg->cmd->dev_dir,
 				lv->vg->name, lv->name)) {
-		log_err("Couldn't create link path (in order to remove it.");
+		log_error("Couldn't determine link pathname.");
 		return 0;
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/config/config.c b/lib/config/config.c
index 9100ffcc1..8128b7947 100644
--- a/lib/config/config.c
+++ b/lib/config/config.c
@@ -554,12 +554,12 @@ find_config_str(struct config_node *cn,
 	struct config_node *n = find_config_node(cn, path, sep);
 
 	if (n && n->v->type == CFG_STRING) {
-		log_debug("Setting %s to %s", path, n->v->v.str);
+		log_very_verbose("Setting %s to %s", path, n->v->v.str);
 		return n->v->v.str;
 	}
 
 	if (fail)
-		log_debug("%s not found in config: defaulting to %s",
+		log_very_verbose("%s not found in config: defaulting to %s",
 			  path, fail);
 	return fail;
 }
@@ -570,11 +570,12 @@ int find_config_int(struct config_node *cn, const char *path,
 	struct config_node *n = find_config_node(cn, path, sep);
 
 	if (n && n->v->type == CFG_INT) {
-		log_debug("Setting %s to %d", path, n->v->v.i);
+		log_very_verbose("Setting %s to %d", path, n->v->v.i);
 		return n->v->v.i;
 	}
 
-	log_debug("%s not found in config: defaulting to %d", path, fail);
+	log_very_verbose("%s not found in config: defaulting to %d", 
+			 path, fail);
 	return fail;
 }
 
@@ -584,11 +585,11 @@ float find_config_float(struct config_node *cn, const char *path,
 	struct config_node *n = find_config_node(cn, path, sep);
 
 	if (n && n->v->type == CFG_FLOAT) {
-		log_debug("Setting %s to %f", path, n->v->v.r);
+		log_very_verbose("Setting %s to %f", path, n->v->v.r);
 		return n->v->v.r;
 	}
 
-	log_debug("%s not found in config: defaulting to %f",
+	log_very_verbose("%s not found in config: defaulting to %f",
 		  path, fail);
 
 	return fail;
diff --git a/lib/format1/disk-rep.c b/lib/format1/disk-rep.c
index f22701317..8f1539331 100644
--- a/lib/format1/disk-rep.c
+++ b/lib/format1/disk-rep.c
@@ -134,7 +134,8 @@ static int _munge_formats(struct pv_disk *pvd)
 int read_pvd(struct device *dev, struct pv_disk *pvd)
 {
 	if (dev_read(dev, 0, sizeof(*pvd), pvd) != sizeof(*pvd)) {
-		log_debug("Failed to read PV data from %s", dev_name(dev));
+		log_very_verbose("Failed to read PV data from %s", 
+				 dev_name(dev));
 		return 0;
 	}
 
@@ -350,12 +351,13 @@ static void _add_pv_to_list(struct list *head, struct disk_list *data)
 		if (!strncmp(data->pvd.pv_uuid, pvd->pv_uuid, 
 			     sizeof(pvd->pv_uuid))) {
 			if (MAJOR(data->dev->dev) != md_major()) {
-				log_debug("Ignoring duplicate PV %s on %s", 
-					  pvd->pv_uuid, dev_name(data->dev));
+				log_very_verbose("Ignoring duplicate PV %s on "
+						 "%s", pvd->pv_uuid, 
+						 dev_name(data->dev));
 				return;
 			}
-			log_debug("Duplicate PV %s - using md %s", 
-				  pvd->pv_uuid, dev_name(data->dev));
+			log_very_verbose("Duplicate PV %s - using md %s", 
+				  	 pvd->pv_uuid, dev_name(data->dev));
 			list_del(pvdh);
 			break;
 		}
@@ -596,7 +598,8 @@ int write_disks(struct list *pvs)
 		if (!(_write_all_pvd(dl)))
 			fail;
 
-		log_debug("Successfully wrote data to %s", dev_name(dl->dev));
+		log_very_verbose("Successfully wrote data to %s", 
+				 dev_name(dl->dev));
 	}
 
 	return 1;
diff --git a/lib/format1/format1.c b/lib/format1/format1.c
index e9b410f15..f65be783c 100644
--- a/lib/format1/format1.c
+++ b/lib/format1/format1.c
@@ -29,8 +29,8 @@ static int _check_vgs(struct list *pvs)
 			first = dl;
 
 		else if (memcmp(&first->vgd, &dl->vgd, sizeof(first->vgd))) {
-			log_err("VG data differs between PVs %s and %s",
-				dev_name(first->dev), dev_name(dl->dev));
+			log_error("VG data differs between PVs %s and %s",
+				  dev_name(first->dev), dev_name(dl->dev));
 			return 0;
 		}
 		pv_count++;
@@ -359,8 +359,8 @@ static int _pv_setup(struct format_instance *fi, struct physical_volume *pv,
 static int _lv_setup(struct format_instance *fi, struct logical_volume *lv)
 {
 	if (lv->le_count > MAX_LE_TOTAL) {
-		log_err("Format 1 logical volumes cannot contain more than "
-			"%d extents.", MAX_LE_TOTAL);
+		log_error("logical volumes cannot contain more than "
+			  "%d extents.", MAX_LE_TOTAL);
 		return 0;
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/format_text/export.c b/lib/format_text/export.c
index 2b3393ede..10045a213 100644
--- a/lib/format_text/export.c
+++ b/lib/format_text/export.c
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ static void _inc_indent(struct formatter *f)
 static void _dec_indent(struct formatter *f)
 {
 	if (!f->indent--) {
-		log_debug("Indenting seems to have messed up\n");
+		log_error("Internal error tracking indentation");
 		f->indent = 0;
 	}
 }
diff --git a/lib/log/log.h b/lib/log/log.h
index a394f5400..ac25974b4 100644
--- a/lib/log/log.h
+++ b/lib/log/log.h
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ void print_log(int level, const char *file, int line, const char *format, ...)
 #define log_err(x...) plog(_LOG_ERR, x)
 #define log_fatal(x...) plog(_LOG_FATAL, x)
 
-#define stack log_debug( "s" )
+#define stack log_debug( "s" )	/* Backtrace on error */
 
 #define log_error(fmt, args...) log_err(fmt , ## args)
 #define log_print(fmt, args...) log_warn(fmt , ## args)
diff --git a/lib/metadata/metadata.c b/lib/metadata/metadata.c
index 313fbba40..88c40ebf7 100644
--- a/lib/metadata/metadata.c
+++ b/lib/metadata/metadata.c
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ int _add_pv_to_vg(struct format_instance *fi, struct volume_group *vg,
 	pv->pe_allocated = 0;
 
 	if (!fi->ops->pv_setup(fi, pv, vg)) {
-		log_debug("Format-specific setup of physical volume '%s' "
+		log_error("Format-specific setup of physical volume '%s' "
 			  "failed.", pv_name);
 		return 0;
 	}
diff --git a/lib/mm/pool-fast.c b/lib/mm/pool-fast.c
index 4698de473..a12b2ee9f 100644
--- a/lib/mm/pool-fast.c
+++ b/lib/mm/pool-fast.c
@@ -125,8 +125,8 @@ void pool_free(struct pool *p, void *ptr)
 	}
 
 	if (!c)
-		log_debug("pool_free asked to free a pointer "
-			 "that wasn't in the pool, doing nothing");
+		log_error("Internal error: pool_free asked to free pointer "
+			  "not in pool");
 	else
 		p->chunk = c;
 }
diff --git a/lib/regex/matcher.c b/lib/regex/matcher.c
index 9fc5e47a3..95f7765fe 100644
--- a/lib/regex/matcher.c
+++ b/lib/regex/matcher.c
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ static void _calc_functions(struct matcher *m)
 			break;
 
 		default:
-			log_debug("unknown node type");
+			log_error("Internal error: Unknown calc node type");
 		}
 
 		/*
@@ -301,7 +301,7 @@ struct matcher *matcher_create(struct pool *mem,
 
 	/* parse this expression */
 	if(!(rx = rx_parse_tok(scratch, all, ptr))) {
-		log_debug("Couldn't parse the regex");
+		log_error("Couldn't parse regex");
 		goto bad;
 	}
 
diff --git a/lib/regex/parse_rx.c b/lib/regex/parse_rx.c
index 53f023b54..57e2c4c88 100644
--- a/lib/regex/parse_rx.c
+++ b/lib/regex/parse_rx.c
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ static int _get_token(struct parse_sp *ps)
 				range = 1;
 				ptr++;
 				if(ptr == ps->rx_end) {
-					log_info("incomplete charset "
+					log_error("Incomplete range"
 						 "specification");
 					return -1;
 				}
@@ -142,8 +142,8 @@ static int _get_token(struct parse_sp *ps)
 		/* escaped character */
 		ptr++;
 		if(ptr >= ps->rx_end) {
-			log_info("badly quoted character at end "
-				 "of expression");
+			log_error("Badly quoted character at end "
+				  "of expression");
 			ps->type = -1;
 			return -1;
 		}
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ static struct rx_node *_term(struct parse_sp *ps)
 		_get_token(ps);           /* match '(' */
 		n = _or_term(ps);
 		if(ps->type != ')') {
-			log_debug("missing ')' in regular expression");
+			log_error("missing ')' in regular expression");
 			return 0;
 		}
 		_get_token(ps);           /* match ')' */
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ static struct rx_node *_or_term(struct parse_sp *ps)
 	_get_token(ps);       /* match '|' */
 
 	if (!(r = _or_term(ps))) {
-		log_info("badly formed 'or' expression");
+		log_error("Badly formed 'or' expression");
 		return NULL;
 	}
 
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ struct rx_node *rx_parse_tok(struct pool *mem,
 	_get_token(ps);               /* load the first token */
 
 	if (!(r = _or_term(ps))) {
-		log_err("parse error in regex");
+		log_error("Parse error in regex");
 		pool_free(mem, ps);
 	}
 
diff --git a/tools/vgscan.c b/tools/vgscan.c
index 97a328e36..a60243b39 100644
--- a/tools/vgscan.c
+++ b/tools/vgscan.c
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ int vgscan(int argc, char **argv)
 	log_verbose("Wiping internal cache of PVs in VGs");
 	vgcache_destroy();
 
-	log_print("Reading all physical volumes (this may take a while...)");
+	log_print("Reading all physical volumes.  This may take a while...");
 
 	return process_each_vg(argc, argv, &vgscan_single);
 }