diff --git a/scripts/common_cmdline.sh b/scripts/common_cmdline.sh
index 7b452d857..59c334a4b 100644
--- a/scripts/common_cmdline.sh
+++ b/scripts/common_cmdline.sh
@@ -25,20 +25,24 @@ OLDARGS=(--optimize --combined-json "abi,asm,ast,bin,bin-runtime,devdoc,interfac
 function compileFull()
 {
     local expected_exit_code=0
-    local expect_output=0
-    if [[ $1 = '-e' ]]; then
-        expected_exit_code=1
-        expect_output=1
-        shift;
-    fi
-    if [[ $1 = '-w' ]]; then
-        expect_output=1
-        shift;
-    fi
-    if [[ $1 = '-o' ]]; then
-        expect_output=2
-        shift;
-    fi
+    local expect_output='none'
+
+    case "$1" in
+        '--expect-errors')
+            expected_exit_code=1
+            expect_output='warnings-or-errors'
+            shift;
+            ;;
+        '--expect-warnings')
+            expect_output='warnings-or-errors'
+            shift;
+            ;;
+        '--ignore-warnings')
+            expect_output='any'
+            shift;
+            ;;
+    esac
+
     local args=("${FULLARGS[@]}")
     if [[ $1 = '-v' ]]; then
         if (echo "$2" | grep -Po '(?<=0.4.)\d+' >/dev/null); then
@@ -71,20 +75,31 @@ function compileFull()
     set -e
     rm "$stderr_path"
 
-    if [[ \
-        ("$exit_code" -ne "$expected_exit_code" || \
-            ( $expect_output -eq 0 && -n "$errors" ) || \
-            ( $expect_output -ne 0 && $expected_exit_code -eq 0 && $expect_output -ne 2 && -z "$errors" ))
+    if [[
+        $exit_code != "$expected_exit_code" ||
+        $errors != "" && $expect_output == 'none' ||
+        $errors == "" && $expect_output != 'none' && $expect_output != 'any' && $expected_exit_code == 0
     ]]
     then
-        printError "Unexpected compilation result:"
-        printError "Expected failure: $expected_exit_code - Expected warning / error output: $expect_output"
-        printError "Was failure: $exit_code"
+        printError "TEST FAILURE"
+        printError "Actual exit code:   $exit_code"
+        printError "Expected exit code: $expected_exit_code"
+        printError "==== Output ===="
         echo "$errors"
+        printError "== Output end =="
+        printError ""
+        case "$expect_output" in
+            'none') printError "No output was expected." ;;
+            'warnings-or-errors') printError "Expected warnings or errors." ;;
+        esac
+
+        printError ""
         printError "While calling:"
-        echo "\"$SOLC\" ${args[*]} ${files[*]}"
+        echo      "\"$SOLC\" ${args[*]} ${files[*]}"
         printError "Inside directory:"
-        pwd
+        echo "    $(pwd)"
+        printError "Input was:"
+        cat -- "${files[@]}"
         false
     fi
 }
diff --git a/scripts/docs_version_pragma_check.sh b/scripts/docs_version_pragma_check.sh
index d7ca3f2ad..d16645da8 100755
--- a/scripts/docs_version_pragma_check.sh
+++ b/scripts/docs_version_pragma_check.sh
@@ -156,11 +156,11 @@ SOLTMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)
         if ( ! grep -E "This will not compile after" "$f" >/dev/null && \
             grep -E "This will not compile|import \"" "$f" >/dev/null )
         then
-            opts=(-e)
+            opts=(--expect-errors)
         fi
 
         # ignore warnings in this case
-        opts+=(-o)
+        opts+=(--ignore-warnings)
 
         findMinimalVersion "$f"
         if [[ "$version" == "" ]]
diff --git a/test/cmdlineTests.sh b/test/cmdlineTests.sh
index 37a538328..582a7acde 100755
--- a/test/cmdlineTests.sh
+++ b/test/cmdlineTests.sh
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ printTask "Compiling various other contracts and libraries..."
     do
         echo " - $dir"
         cd "$dir"
-        compileFull -w ./*.sol ./*/*.sol
+        compileFull --expect-warnings ./*.sol ./*/*.sol
         cd ..
     done
 )
@@ -397,15 +397,15 @@ SOLTMPDIR=$(mktemp -d)
         # are used (in the style guide)
         if grep -E "This will not compile|import \"" "$f" >/dev/null
         then
-            opts=(-e)
+            opts=(--expect-errors)
         fi
         if grep "This will report a warning" "$f" >/dev/null
         then
-            opts+=(-w)
+            opts+=(--expect-warnings)
         fi
         if grep "This may report a warning" "$f" >/dev/null
         then
-            opts+=(-o)
+            opts+=(--ignore-warnings)
         fi
 
         # Disable the version pragma in code snippets that only work with the current development version.