diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 486bbfc4..486a35f2 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -355,7 +355,7 @@ func init() {
 	cobra.OnInitialize(initConfig)
 
 	// General Config
-	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&logLevel, "log", "error", "Set the log level. Valid values: panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().StringVar(&logLevel, "log", "info", "Set the log level. Valid values: panic, fatal, error, warn, info, debug, trace")
 	cobra.CheckErr(viper.BindEnv("log", "OVERMIND_LOG", "LOG")) // fallback to global config
 
 	// Support API Keys in the environment
@@ -398,8 +398,8 @@ func init() {
 		if logLevel != "" {
 			lvl, err = log.ParseLevel(logLevel)
 			if err != nil {
-				log.WithFields(log.Fields{"level": logLevel, "err": err}).Errorf("couldn't parse `log` config, defaulting to `error`")
-				lvl = log.ErrorLevel
+				log.WithFields(log.Fields{"level": logLevel, "err": err}).Errorf("couldn't parse `log` config, defaulting to `info`")
+				lvl = log.InfoLevel
 			}
 		} else {
 			lvl = log.ErrorLevel
diff --git a/cmd/terraform_plan.go b/cmd/terraform_plan.go
index 8cbfeb64..1a070114 100644
--- a/cmd/terraform_plan.go
+++ b/cmd/terraform_plan.go
@@ -83,6 +83,9 @@ func CmdWrapper(action string, requiredScopes []string, commandModel func([]stri
 		defer span.End()
 		defer tracing.LogRecoverToExit(ctx, cmdName)
 
+		// ensure that only error messages are printed to the console,
+		// disrupting bubbletea rendering (and potentially getting overwritten).
+		// Otherwise, when TEABUG is set, log to a file.
 		if len(os.Getenv("TEABUG")) > 0 {
 			f, err := tea.LogToFile("teabug.log", "debug")
 			if err != nil {
@@ -91,6 +94,8 @@ func CmdWrapper(action string, requiredScopes []string, commandModel func([]stri
 			}
 			defer f.Close()
 			log.SetOutput(f)
+		} else {
+			log.SetLevel(log.ErrorLevel)
 		}
 
 		// wrap the rest of the function in a closure to allow for cleaner error handling and deferring.