diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 724aa7269c5..35683dae03c 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -185,5 +185,6 @@ task run(type: Run) {
   dependsOn ':distribution:run'
   description = 'Runs elasticsearch in the foreground'
   group = 'Verification'
+  impliesSubProjects = true
 }
 
diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy
index 994d47be5b6..d49b1ffe0bf 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/org/elasticsearch/gradle/test/ClusterFormationTasks.groovy
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ class ClusterFormationTasks {
         // tasks are chained so their execution order is maintained
         Task setup = project.tasks.create(name: "${task.name}#clean", type: Delete, dependsOn: task.dependsOn.collect()) {
             delete home
+            delete cwd
             doLast {
                 cwd.mkdirs()
             }
@@ -222,6 +223,8 @@ class ClusterFormationTasks {
         }
 
         String executable
+        // running with cmd on windows will look for this with the .bat extension
+        String esScript = new File(home, 'bin/elasticsearch').toString()
         List<String> esArgs = []
         if (Os.isFamily(Os.FAMILY_WINDOWS)) {
             executable = 'cmd'
@@ -230,8 +233,8 @@ class ClusterFormationTasks {
         } else {
             executable = 'sh'
         }
-        // running with cmd on windows will look for this with the .bat extension
-        esArgs.add(new File(home, 'bin/elasticsearch').toString())
+
+        File failedMarker = new File(cwd, 'run.failed')
 
         // this closure is converted into ant nodes by groovy's AntBuilder
         Closure antRunner = {
@@ -242,16 +245,42 @@ class ClusterFormationTasks {
                 esEnv['JAVA_OPTS'] += ' -agentlib:jdwp=transport=dt_socket,server=y,suspend=y,address=8000'
             }
 
+            // Due to how ant exec works with the spawn option, we lose all stdout/stderr from the
+            // process executed. To work around this, when spawning, we wrap the elasticsearch start
+            // command inside another shell script, which simply internally redirects the output
+            // of the real elasticsearch script. This allows ant to keep the streams open with the
+            // dummy process, but us to have the output available if there is an error in the
+            // elasticsearch start script
+            if (config.daemonize) {
+                String scriptName = 'run'
+                String argsPasser = '"$@"'
+                String exitMarker = '; if [ $? != 0 ]; then touch run.failed; fi'
+                if (Os.isFamily(Os.FAMILY_WINDOWS)) {
+                    scriptName += '.bat'
+                    argsPasser = '%*'
+                    exitMarker = '\r\n if "%errorlevel%" neq "0" ( type nul >> run.failed )'
+                }
+                File wrapperScript = new File(cwd, scriptName)
+                wrapperScript.setText("\"${esScript}\" ${argsPasser} > run.log 2>&1 ${exitMarker}", 'UTF-8')
+                esScript = wrapperScript.toString()
+            }
+
             exec(executable: executable, spawn: config.daemonize, dir: cwd, taskname: 'elasticsearch') {
                 esEnv.each { key, value -> env(key: key, value: value) }
-                (esArgs + esProps).each { arg(value: it) }
+                arg(value: esScript)
+                esProps.each { arg(value: it) }
             }
             waitfor(maxwait: '30', maxwaitunit: 'second', checkevery: '500', checkeveryunit: 'millisecond', timeoutproperty: "failed${name}") {
-                and {
+                or {
                     resourceexists {
-                        file(file: pidFile.toString())
+                        file(file: failedMarker.toString())
+                    }
+                    and {
+                        resourceexists {
+                            file(file: pidFile.toString())
+                        }
+                        http(url: "http://localhost:${config.httpPort}")
                     }
-                    http(url: "http://localhost:${config.httpPort}")
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -259,8 +288,8 @@ class ClusterFormationTasks {
         // this closure is the actual code to run elasticsearch
         Closure elasticsearchRunner = {
             // Command as string for logging
-            String esCommandString = "Elasticsearch command: ${executable} "
-            esCommandString += (esArgs + esProps).join(' ')
+            String esCommandString = "Elasticsearch command: ${esScript} "
+            esCommandString += esProps.join(' ')
             if (esEnv.isEmpty() == false) {
                 esCommandString += '\nenvironment:'
                 esEnv.each { k, v -> esCommandString += "\n  ${k}: ${v}" }
@@ -277,20 +306,18 @@ class ClusterFormationTasks {
                 runAntCommand(project, antRunner, captureStream, captureStream)
             }
 
-            if (ant.properties.containsKey("failed${name}".toString())) {
-                // the waitfor failed, so dump any output we got (may be empty if info logging, but that is ok)
-                logger.error(buffer.toString('UTF-8'))
-                // also dump the cluster's log file, it may be useful
-                File logFile = new File(home, "logs/${clusterName}.log")
-                if (logFile.exists()) {
-                    logFile.eachLine { line -> logger.error(line) }
-                } else {
-                    logger.error("Couldn't start elasticsearch and couldn't find ${logFile}")
-                }
+            if (ant.properties.containsKey("failed${name}".toString()) || failedMarker.exists()) {
                 if (logger.isInfoEnabled() == false) {
                     // We already log the command at info level. No need to do it twice.
                     logger.error(esCommandString)
                 }
+                // the waitfor failed, so dump any output we got (may be empty if info logging, but that is ok)
+                logger.error(buffer.toString('UTF-8'))
+                // also dump the log file for the startup script (which will include ES logging output to stdout)
+                File startLog = new File(cwd, 'run.log')
+                if (startLog.exists()) {
+                    startLog.eachLine { line -> logger.error(line) }
+                }
                 throw new GradleException('Failed to start elasticsearch')
             }
         }