diff --git a/pkg/cmd/root.go b/pkg/cmd/root.go
index a231e8337..ce8393f9b 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/root.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/root.go
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ func init() {
 
 	RootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&cachevar, "no-cache", "c", false, "no caching")
 	RootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVarP(&outputFormat, "output", "o", "yaml", "output format yaml or json")
-	RootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&debugSwitch, "debug", "d", false, "enable debug level output")
+	RootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&debugSwitch, "verbose", "d", false, "enable verbose output")
 
 	cobra.EnableCommandSorting = false
 	cobra.EnablePrefixMatching = prefixMatching
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/ssh_aws.go b/pkg/cmd/ssh_aws.go
index 61fd753d2..6d736fcb9 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/ssh_aws.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/ssh_aws.go
@@ -92,7 +92,12 @@ func sshToAWSNode(nodeName, path, user, pathSSKeypair string, sshPublicKey []byt
 	fmt.Print("SSH " + bastionNode + " => " + node + "\n")
 	key := filepath.Join(pathSSKeypair, "key")
 
-	sshCmd := fmt.Sprintf("ssh -i " + key + "  -o ConnectionAttempts=2 -o \"ProxyCommand ssh -W %%h:%%p -i " + key + " -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -o ConnectionAttempts=2 -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no " + bastionNode + "\" " + node + " -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no")
+	var sshCmd string
+	if debugSwitch {
+		sshCmd = fmt.Sprintf("ssh -v -i " + key + "  -o ConnectionAttempts=2 -o \"ProxyCommand ssh -W %%h:%%p -i " + key + " -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -o ConnectionAttempts=2 -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no " + bastionNode + "\" " + node + " -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no")
+	} else {
+		sshCmd = fmt.Sprintf("ssh -i " + key + "  -o ConnectionAttempts=2 -o \"ProxyCommand ssh -W %%h:%%p -i " + key + " -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -o ConnectionAttempts=2 -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no " + bastionNode + "\" " + node + " -o IdentitiesOnly=yes -o StrictHostKeyChecking=no")
+	}
 	cmd := exec.Command("bash", "-c", sshCmd)
 	cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
 	cmd.Stdin = os.Stdin
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/utils.go b/pkg/cmd/utils.go
index 9c1f43bba..f0fa07a98 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/utils.go
@@ -17,9 +17,11 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"log"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
 	"strings"
 
 	gardencorev1beta1 "github.com/gardener/gardener/pkg/apis/core/v1beta1"
@@ -34,8 +36,14 @@ import (
 // checkError checks if an error during execution occurred
 func checkError(err error) {
 	if err != nil {
-		fmt.Println(err.Error())
-		os.Exit(2)
+		if debugSwitch {
+			_, fn, line, _ := runtime.Caller(1)
+			log.Printf("[error] %s:%d \n %v", fn, line, err)
+			os.Exit(2)
+		} else {
+			fmt.Println(err.Error())
+			os.Exit(2)
+		}
 	}
 }