diff --git a/ddl/ddl_test.go b/ddl/ddl_test.go
index 8331d35735d71..8aab11bc92af1 100644
--- a/ddl/ddl_test.go
+++ b/ddl/ddl_test.go
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ func TestT(t *testing.T) {
 	CustomVerboseFlag = true
 	logLevel := os.Getenv("log_level")
 	logutil.InitLogger(&logutil.LogConfig{
-		Level: logLevel,
+		Level:  logLevel,
+		Format: "highlight",
 	})
 	TestingT(t)
 }
diff --git a/ddl/index_change_test.go b/ddl/index_change_test.go
index e976535937c43..dd19d85997643 100644
--- a/ddl/index_change_test.go
+++ b/ddl/index_change_test.go
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ func (s *testIndexChangeSuite) SetUpSuite(c *C) {
 		t := meta.NewMeta(txn)
 		return errors.Trace(t.CreateDatabase(s.dbInfo))
 	})
-	c.Check(err, IsNil)
+	c.Check(err, IsNil, Commentf("err %v", errors.ErrorStack(err)))
 }
 
 func (s *testIndexChangeSuite) TestIndexChange(c *C) {
diff --git a/util/logutil/log.go b/util/logutil/log.go
index 010120efb2bd8..301b3a9be2087 100644
--- a/util/logutil/log.go
+++ b/util/logutil/log.go
@@ -110,9 +110,30 @@ func stringToLogLevel(level string) log.Level {
 	return defaultLogLevel
 }
 
+// logTypeToColor converts the Level to a color string.
+func logTypeToColor(level log.Level) string {
+	switch level {
+	case log.DebugLevel:
+		return "[0;37"
+	case log.InfoLevel:
+		return "[0;36"
+	case log.WarnLevel:
+		return "[0;33"
+	case log.ErrorLevel:
+		return "[0;31"
+	case log.FatalLevel:
+		return "[0;31"
+	case log.PanicLevel:
+		return "[0;31"
+	}
+
+	return "[0;37"
+}
+
 // textFormatter is for compatability with ngaut/log
 type textFormatter struct {
 	DisableTimestamp bool
+	EnableColors     bool
 }
 
 // Format implements logrus.Formatter
@@ -123,6 +144,12 @@ func (f *textFormatter) Format(entry *log.Entry) ([]byte, error) {
 	} else {
 		b = &bytes.Buffer{}
 	}
+
+	if f.EnableColors {
+		colorStr := logTypeToColor(entry.Level)
+		fmt.Fprintf(b, "\033%sm ", colorStr)
+	}
+
 	if !f.DisableTimestamp {
 		fmt.Fprintf(b, "%s ", entry.Time.Format(defaultLogTimeFormat))
 	}
@@ -136,6 +163,10 @@ func (f *textFormatter) Format(entry *log.Entry) ([]byte, error) {
 		}
 	}
 	b.WriteByte('\n')
+
+	if f.EnableColors {
+		b.WriteString("\033[0m")
+	}
 	return b.Bytes(), nil
 }
 
@@ -156,6 +187,11 @@ func stringToLogFormatter(format string, disableTimestamp bool) log.Formatter {
 			TimestampFormat:  defaultLogTimeFormat,
 			DisableTimestamp: disableTimestamp,
 		}
+	case "highlight":
+		return &textFormatter{
+			DisableTimestamp: disableTimestamp,
+			EnableColors:     true,
+		}
 	default:
 		return &textFormatter{}
 	}