diff --git a/packager/packager.js b/packager/packager.js
index b75ccaa26..b9e302005 100644
--- a/packager/packager.js
+++ b/packager/packager.js
@@ -68,6 +68,10 @@ var options = parseCommandLine([{
   command: 'reset-cache',
   description: 'Removes cached files',
   default: false,
+}, {
+  command: 'verbose',
+  description: 'Enables logging',
+  default: false,
 }]);
 
 if (options.projectRoots) {
@@ -187,6 +191,7 @@ function getAppMiddleware(options) {
         '../Libraries/JavaScriptAppEngine/polyfills/document.js'
       ),
     ],
+    verbose: options.verbose,
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/packager/react-packager/index.js b/packager/react-packager/index.js
index 64ad19857..e0a29684d 100644
--- a/packager/react-packager/index.js
+++ b/packager/react-packager/index.js
@@ -12,12 +12,12 @@ require('../babelRegisterOnly')([/react-packager\/src/]);
 
 useGracefulFs();
 
+var debug = require('debug');
+var omit = require('underscore').omit;
 var Activity = require('./src/Activity');
-var Server = require('./src/Server');
-var SocketInterface = require('./src/SocketInterface');
 
 exports.middleware = function(options) {
-  var server = new Server(options);
+  var server = createServer(options);
   return server.processRequest.bind(server);
 };
 
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ exports.Activity = Activity;
 // compat.
 exports.buildPackage =
 exports.buildBundle = function(options, bundleOptions) {
-  var server = createServer(options);
+  var server = createNonPersistentServer(options);
   return server.buildBundle(bundleOptions)
     .then(function(p) {
       server.end();
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ exports.buildBundle = function(options, bundleOptions) {
 
 exports.buildPackageFromUrl =
 exports.buildBundleFromUrl = function(options, reqUrl) {
-  var server = createServer(options);
+  var server = createNonPersistentServer(options);
   return server.buildBundleFromUrl(reqUrl)
     .then(function(p) {
       server.end();
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ exports.buildBundleFromUrl = function(options, reqUrl) {
 };
 
 exports.getDependencies = function(options, bundleOptions) {
-  var server = createServer(options);
+  var server = createNonPersistentServer(options);
   return server.getDependencies(bundleOptions)
     .then(function(r) {
       server.end();
@@ -55,23 +55,70 @@ exports.getDependencies = function(options, bundleOptions) {
 };
 
 exports.createClientFor = function(options) {
-  return SocketInterface.getOrCreateSocketFor(options);
+  if (options.verbose) {
+    enableDebug();
+  }
+  startSocketInterface();
+  return (
+    require('./src/SocketInterface')
+      .getOrCreateSocketFor(omit(options, ['verbose']))
+  );
 };
 
-SocketInterface.listenOnServerMessages();
-
 function useGracefulFs() {
   var fs = require('fs');
   var gracefulFs = require('graceful-fs');
   gracefulFs.gracefulify(fs);
 }
 
+function enableDebug() {
+  // react-packager logs debug messages using the 'debug' npm package, and uses
+  // the following prefix throughout.
+  // To enable debugging, we need to set our pattern or append it to any
+  // existing pre-configured pattern to avoid disabling logging for
+  // other packages
+  var debugPattern = 'ReactNativePackager:*';
+  var existingPattern = debug.load();
+  if (existingPattern) {
+    debugPattern += ',' + existingPattern;
+  }
+  debug.enable(debugPattern);
+}
+
 function createServer(options) {
+  // the debug module is configured globally, we need to enable debugging
+  // *before* requiring any packages that use `debug` for logging
+  if (options.verbose) {
+    enableDebug();
+  }
+
+  startSocketInterface();
+  var Server = require('./src/Server');
+  return new Server(omit(options, ['verbose']));
+}
+
+function createNonPersistentServer(options) {
   Activity.disable();
   // Don't start the filewatcher or the cache.
   if (options.nonPersistent == null) {
     options.nonPersistent = true;
   }
 
-  return new Server(options);
+  return createServer(options);
+}
+
+// we need to listen on a socket as soon as a server is created, but only once.
+// This file also serves as entry point when spawning a socket server; in that
+// case we need to start the server immediately.
+var didStartSocketInterface = false;
+function startSocketInterface() {
+  if (didStartSocketInterface) {
+    return;
+  }
+  didStartSocketInterface = true;
+  require('./src/SocketInterface').listenOnServerMessages();
+}
+
+if (require.main === module) { // used as entry point
+  startSocketInterface();
 }
diff --git a/packager/react-packager/src/SocketInterface/index.js b/packager/react-packager/src/SocketInterface/index.js
index 2a885b1cb..c56026ead 100644
--- a/packager/react-packager/src/SocketInterface/index.js
+++ b/packager/react-packager/src/SocketInterface/index.js
@@ -27,10 +27,11 @@ const SocketInterface = {
     return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
       const hash = crypto.createHash('md5');
       Object.keys(options).sort().forEach(key => {
-        if (options[key] && typeof options[key] !== 'string') {
-          hash.update(JSON.stringify(options[key]));
-        } else {
-          hash.update(options[key]);
+        const value = options[key];
+        if (value) {
+          hash.update(
+            typeof value === 'string' ? value : JSON.stringify(value)
+          );
         }
       });
 
diff --git a/private-cli/src/bundle/bundle.js b/private-cli/src/bundle/bundle.js
index 9ea1aa93d..7a039cf4e 100644
--- a/private-cli/src/bundle/bundle.js
+++ b/private-cli/src/bundle/bundle.js
@@ -58,7 +58,11 @@ function _bundle(argv, config, resolve, reject) {
       command: 'assets-dest',
       description: 'Directory name where to store assets referenced in the bundle',
       type: 'string',
-    }
+    }, {
+      command: 'verbose',
+      description: 'Enables logging',
+      default: false,
+    },
   ], argv);
 
   // This is used by a bazillion of npm modules we don't control so we don't
@@ -70,6 +74,7 @@ function _bundle(argv, config, resolve, reject) {
     assetRoots: config.getAssetRoots(),
     blacklistRE: config.getBlacklistRE(args.platform),
     transformModulePath: args.transformer,
+    verbose: args.verbose,
   };
 
   const requestOpts = {
diff --git a/private-cli/src/dependencies/dependencies.js b/private-cli/src/dependencies/dependencies.js
index 893a8ce6d..f883dbc0a 100644
--- a/private-cli/src/dependencies/dependencies.js
+++ b/private-cli/src/dependencies/dependencies.js
@@ -44,6 +44,10 @@ function _dependencies(argv, config, resolve, reject) {
       type: 'string',
       default: require.resolve('../../../packager/transformer'),
       description: 'Specify a custom transformer to be used (absolute path)'
+    }, {
+      command: 'verbose',
+      description: 'Enables logging',
+      default: false,
     }
   ], argv);
 
@@ -57,6 +61,7 @@ function _dependencies(argv, config, resolve, reject) {
     assetRoots: config.getAssetRoots(),
     blacklistRE: config.getBlacklistRE(args.platform),
     transformModulePath: args.transformer,
+    verbose: config.verbose,
   };
 
   const relativePath = packageOpts.projectRoots.map(root =>
diff --git a/private-cli/src/server/runServer.js b/private-cli/src/server/runServer.js
index 7f33d83db..9071dc140 100644
--- a/private-cli/src/server/runServer.js
+++ b/private-cli/src/server/runServer.js
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ function getAppMiddleware(args, config) {
         '../../../Libraries/JavaScriptAppEngine/polyfills/document.js'
       ),
     ],
+    verbose: args.verbose,
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/private-cli/src/server/server.js b/private-cli/src/server/server.js
index fe7c23abf..65ffe8acd 100644
--- a/private-cli/src/server/server.js
+++ b/private-cli/src/server/server.js
@@ -58,6 +58,10 @@ function _server(argv, config, resolve, reject) {
     command: 'reset-cache',
     description: 'Removes cached files',
     default: false,
+  }, {
+    command: 'verbose',
+    description: 'Enables logging',
+    default: false,
   }]);
 
   args.projectRoots = args.projectRoots