diff --git a/lucene/test-framework/src/java/org/apache/lucene/store/BaseLockFactoryTestCase.java b/lucene/test-framework/src/java/org/apache/lucene/store/BaseLockFactoryTestCase.java
index 8e7a518b28e..adff0cc1f9f 100644
--- a/lucene/test-framework/src/java/org/apache/lucene/store/BaseLockFactoryTestCase.java
+++ b/lucene/test-framework/src/java/org/apache/lucene/store/BaseLockFactoryTestCase.java
@@ -17,7 +17,10 @@ package org.apache.lucene.store;
  * limitations under the License.
  */
 
+import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.PrintStream;
+import java.io.UnsupportedEncodingException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.util.concurrent.CyclicBarrier;
 import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicBoolean;
@@ -30,13 +33,14 @@ import org.apache.lucene.document.Field;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.DirectoryReader;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.IndexReader;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.IndexWriter;
+import org.apache.lucene.index.IndexWriterConfig.OpenMode;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.IndexWriterConfig;
 import org.apache.lucene.index.Term;
-import org.apache.lucene.index.IndexWriterConfig.OpenMode;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.IndexSearcher;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.Query;
 import org.apache.lucene.search.TermQuery;
 import org.apache.lucene.util.LuceneTestCase;
+import org.apache.lucene.util.PrintStreamInfoStream;
 
 /** Base class for per-LockFactory tests. */
 public abstract class BaseLockFactoryTestCase extends LuceneTestCase {
@@ -186,6 +190,16 @@ public abstract class BaseLockFactoryTestCase extends LuceneTestCase {
       this.numIteration = numIteration;
       this.dir = dir;
     }
+
+    private String toString(ByteArrayOutputStream baos) {
+      try {
+        return baos.toString("UTF8");
+      } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException uee) {
+        // shouldn't happen
+        throw new RuntimeException(uee);
+      }
+    }
+  
     @Override
     public void run() {
       IndexWriter writer = null;
@@ -193,8 +207,20 @@ public abstract class BaseLockFactoryTestCase extends LuceneTestCase {
         if (VERBOSE) {
           System.out.println("TEST: WriterThread iter=" + i);
         }
+
+        IndexWriterConfig iwc = new IndexWriterConfig(new MockAnalyzer(random()));
+
+        // We only print the IW infoStream output on exc, below:
+        ByteArrayOutputStream baos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
         try {
-          writer = new IndexWriter(dir, new IndexWriterConfig(new MockAnalyzer(random())).setOpenMode(OpenMode.APPEND));
+          iwc.setInfoStream(new PrintStreamInfoStream(new PrintStream(baos, true, "UTF8")));
+        } catch (UnsupportedEncodingException uee) {
+          // shouldn't happen
+          throw new RuntimeException(uee);
+        }
+        iwc.setOpenMode(OpenMode.APPEND);
+        try {
+          writer = new IndexWriter(dir, iwc);
         } catch (LockObtainFailedException e) {
           // lock obtain timed out
           // NOTE: we should at some point
@@ -206,6 +232,7 @@ public abstract class BaseLockFactoryTestCase extends LuceneTestCase {
           hitException = true;
           System.out.println("Stress Test Index Writer: creation hit unexpected exception: " + e.toString());
           e.printStackTrace(System.out);
+          System.out.println(toString(baos));
           break;
         }
         if (writer != null) {
@@ -215,6 +242,7 @@ public abstract class BaseLockFactoryTestCase extends LuceneTestCase {
             hitException = true;
             System.out.println("Stress Test Index Writer: addDoc hit unexpected exception: " + e.toString());
             e.printStackTrace(System.out);
+            System.out.println(toString(baos));
             break;
           }
           try {
@@ -223,6 +251,7 @@ public abstract class BaseLockFactoryTestCase extends LuceneTestCase {
             hitException = true;
             System.out.println("Stress Test Index Writer: close hit unexpected exception: " + e.toString());
             e.printStackTrace(System.out);
+            System.out.println(toString(baos));
             break;
           }
           writer = null;
@@ -230,7 +259,7 @@ public abstract class BaseLockFactoryTestCase extends LuceneTestCase {
       }
     }
   }
-  
+
   private class SearcherThread extends Thread { 
     private Directory dir;
     private int numIteration;