diff --git a/borg/archiver.py b/borg/archiver.py
index 4dcf38670..6bcba3dd2 100644
--- a/borg/archiver.py
+++ b/borg/archiver.py
@@ -37,8 +37,9 @@ has_lchflags = hasattr(os, 'lchflags')
 
 class Archiver:
 
-    def __init__(self):
+    def __init__(self, verbose=False):
         self.exit_code = EXIT_SUCCESS
+        self.verbose = verbose
 
     def open_repository(self, location, create=False, exclusive=False):
         if location.proto == 'ssh':
@@ -53,12 +54,14 @@ class Archiver:
         self.exit_code = EXIT_WARNING  # we do not terminate here, so it is a warning
         logger.error('borg: ' + msg)
 
-    def print_verbose(self, msg, *args, **kw):
-        msg = args and msg % args or msg
-        logger.info(msg)
+    def print_verbose(self, msg, *args):
+        if self.verbose:
+            msg = args and msg % args or msg
+            logger.info(msg)
 
     def print_status(self, status, path):
-        logger.info("%1s %s", status, remove_surrogates(path))
+        if self.verbose:
+            logger.info("%1s %s", status, remove_surrogates(path))
 
     def do_serve(self, args):
         """Start in server mode. This command is usually not used manually.
@@ -89,7 +92,7 @@ Type "Yes I am sure" if you understand this and want to continue.\n""")
                 if input('Do you want to continue? ') == 'Yes I am sure':
                     break
         if not args.archives_only:
-            logger.warning('Starting repository check...')
+            logger.info('Starting repository check...')
             if repository.check(repair=args.repair):
                 logger.info('Repository check complete, no problems found.')
             else:
@@ -556,8 +559,8 @@ Type "Yes I am sure" if you understand this and want to continue.\n""")
 
     def build_parser(self, args=None, prog=None):
         common_parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(add_help=False, prog=prog)
-        common_parser.add_argument('-v', '--verbose', dest='verbose', action='count',
-                                   help='verbose output, defaults to warnings only')
+        common_parser.add_argument('-v', '--verbose', dest='verbose', action='store_true', default=False,
+                                   help='verbose output')
         common_parser.add_argument('--no-files-cache', dest='cache_files', action='store_false',
                                    help='do not load/update the file metadata cache used to detect unchanged files')
         common_parser.add_argument('--umask', dest='umask', type=lambda s: int(s, 8), default=RemoteRepository.umask, metavar='M',
@@ -996,7 +999,8 @@ Type "Yes I am sure" if you understand this and want to continue.\n""")
         parser = self.build_parser(args)
 
         args = parser.parse_args(args or ['-h'])
-        setup_logging(args)
+        self.verbose = args.verbose
+        setup_logging()
         os.umask(args.umask)
         RemoteRepository.remote_path = args.remote_path
         RemoteRepository.umask = args.umask
@@ -1015,7 +1019,7 @@ def sig_info_handler(signum, stack):  # pragma: no cover
                 total = loc['st'].st_size
             except Exception:
                 pos, total = 0, 0
-            logger.warning("{0} {1}/{2}".format(path, format_file_size(pos), format_file_size(total)))
+            logger.info("{0} {1}/{2}".format(path, format_file_size(pos), format_file_size(total)))
             break
         if func in ('extract_item', ):  # extract op
             path = loc['item'][b'path']
@@ -1023,7 +1027,7 @@ def sig_info_handler(signum, stack):  # pragma: no cover
                 pos = loc['fd'].tell()
             except Exception:
                 pos = 0
-            logger.warning("{0} {1}/???".format(path, format_file_size(pos)))
+            logger.info("{0} {1}/???".format(path, format_file_size(pos)))
             break
 
 
@@ -1069,7 +1073,8 @@ def main():  # pragma: no cover
     elif exit_code == EXIT_ERROR:
         logger.error(exit_msg % ('error', exit_code))
     else:
-        logger.error(exit_msg % ('abnormal', exit_code))
+        # if you see 666 in output, it usually means exit_code was None
+        logger.error(exit_msg % ('abnormal', exit_code or 666))
     sys.exit(exit_code)
 
 
diff --git a/borg/logger.py b/borg/logger.py
index 2b4ad23ba..69f2a3c22 100644
--- a/borg/logger.py
+++ b/borg/logger.py
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ The way to use this is as follows:
 * then each module uses logger.info/warning/debug/etc according to the
   level it believes is appropriate:
 
-    logger.debug('some intricate details you usually do not care about')
-    logger.info('verbose progress information')
-    logger.warning('some non-error condition that must always be reported')
+    logger.debug('debugging info for developers or power users')
+    logger.info('normal, informational output')
+    logger.warning('warn about a non-fatal error or sth else')
     logger.error('a fatal error')
 
   ... and so on. see the `logging documentation
@@ -26,9 +26,8 @@ The way to use this is as follows:
   stream it is using, unfortunately. we assume that it won't clutter
   stdout, because interaction would be broken then anyways
 
-* advanced verbosity filters, based on what i described in
-  https://github.com/borgbackup/borg/pull/233#issuecomment-145100222
-  may eventually be implemented
+* what is output on INFO level is additionally controlled by commandline
+  flags
 """
 
 import inspect
@@ -36,11 +35,11 @@ import logging
 import sys
 
 
-def setup_logging(args, stream=None):
+def setup_logging(stream=None):
     """setup logging module according to the arguments provided
 
     this sets up a stream handler logger on stderr (by default, if no
-    stream is provided) and verbosity levels.
+    stream is provided).
     """
     logging.raiseExceptions = False
     l = logging.getLogger('')
@@ -50,13 +49,8 @@ def setup_logging(args, stream=None):
     # example:
     # sh.setFormatter(logging.Formatter('%(name)s: %(message)s'))
     l.addHandler(sh)
-    levels = {None: logging.WARNING,
-              0: logging.WARNING,
-              1: logging.INFO,
-              2: logging.DEBUG}
-    # default to WARNING, -v goes to INFO and -vv to DEBUG
-    l.setLevel(levels[args.verbose])
-    return sh,
+    l.setLevel(logging.INFO)
+    return sh
 
 
 def find_parent_module():
diff --git a/borg/testsuite/archiver.py b/borg/testsuite/archiver.py
index f0adf2cba..850955259 100644
--- a/borg/testsuite/archiver.py
+++ b/borg/testsuite/archiver.py
@@ -282,9 +282,20 @@ class ArchiverTestCase(ArchiverTestCaseBase):
         shutil.rmtree(self.cache_path)
         with environment_variable(BORG_UNKNOWN_UNENCRYPTED_REPO_ACCESS_IS_OK='1'):
             info_output2 = self.cmd('info', self.repository_location + '::test')
-        # info_output2 starts with some "initializing cache" text but should
-        # end the same way as info_output
-        assert info_output2.endswith(info_output)
+
+        def filter(output):
+            # filter for interesting "info" output, ignore cache rebuilding related stuff
+            prefixes = ['Name:', 'Fingerprint:', 'Number of files:', 'This archive:',
+                        'All archives:', 'Chunk index:', ]
+            result = []
+            for line in output.splitlines():
+                for prefix in prefixes:
+                    if line.startswith(prefix):
+                        result.append(line)
+            return '\n'.join(result)
+
+        # the interesting parts of info_output2 and info_output should be same
+        self.assert_equal(filter(info_output), filter(info_output2))
 
     def _extract_repository_id(self, path):
         return Repository(self.repository_path).id
diff --git a/borg/testsuite/logger.py b/borg/testsuite/logger.py
index f6382513a..1db72bf2e 100644
--- a/borg/testsuite/logger.py
+++ b/borg/testsuite/logger.py
@@ -11,10 +11,7 @@ logger = create_logger()
 @pytest.fixture()
 def io_logger():
     io = StringIO()
-    args = Mock()
-    args.verbose = 2
-    assert args.verbose == 2
-    handler, = setup_logging(args, io)
+    handler = setup_logging(io)
     handler.setFormatter(logging.Formatter('%(name)s: %(message)s'))
     logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
     return io