diff --git a/.github/workflows/test-jruby.yml b/.github/workflows/test-jruby.yml
index 94931a0..bc066fa 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test-jruby.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test-jruby.yml
@@ -25,5 +25,7 @@ jobs:
       # Mark failures as warnings for now due to high level of flakiness
       # and occasional OOM-s on CI
       continue-on-error: true
+      env:
+        DEBUG_NATS_TEST: ${{ runner.debug }}
       run: |
         bundle exec rspec || DEBUG_NATS_TEST=true bundle exec rspec --only-failures
diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index fab8e2a..1e78c7a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ jobs:
       CI: true
       NATS_SERVER_VERSION: ${{ matrix.nats_version }}
       SKIP_RAILS: true
+      DEBUG_NATS_TEST: ${{ runner.debug }}
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -31,6 +32,8 @@ jobs:
         ruby-version: ${{ matrix.ruby }}
         bundler-cache: true
     - name: Run RSpec
+      env:
+        DEBUG_NATS_TEST: ${{ runner.debug }}
       run: |
         bundle exec rspec
 
diff --git a/.rspec b/.rspec
index c99d2e7..3687797 100644
--- a/.rspec
+++ b/.rspec
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
 --require spec_helper
+--color
diff --git a/spec/support/nats_server_helper.rb b/spec/support/nats_server_helper.rb
index 5b6f4d1..9691ee0 100644
--- a/spec/support/nats_server_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/support/nats_server_helper.rb
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ def init_with_config(config_file)
     end
 
     def init_with_config_from_string(config_string, config={})
-      puts config_string if ENV["DEBUG_NATS_TEST"] == "true"
+      puts config_string if debug?
       config_file = Tempfile.new(['nats-cluster-tests', '.conf'])
       File.open(config_file.path, 'w') do |f|
         f.puts(config_string)
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ def init_with_config_from_string(config_string, config={})
       NatsServerControl.new(uri, config['pid_file'], "-c #{config_file.path}", config_file)
     end
 
+    def debug?
+      %w[1 true t].include?(ENV["DEBUG_NATS_TEST"])
+    end
   end
 
   attr_reader :uri
@@ -45,6 +48,10 @@ def initialize(uri='nats://127.0.0.1:4222', pid_file='/tmp/test-nats.pid', flags
     @config_file = config_file
   end
 
+  def debug?
+    self.class.debug?
+  end
+
   def server_pid
     @pid ||= File.read(@pid_file).chomp.to_i
   end
@@ -72,7 +79,7 @@ def start_server(wait_for_server=true)
     end
     args += " #{@flags}" if @flags
 
-    if ENV["DEBUG_NATS_TEST"] == "true"
+    if debug?
       system("#{BIN_PATH} #{args} -DV &")
     else
       system("#{BIN_PATH} #{args} 2> /dev/null &")
@@ -92,19 +99,21 @@ def kill_server
   end
 
   def wait_for_server(uri, max_wait = 5) # :nodoc:
-    start = Time.now
-    while (Time.now - start < max_wait) # Wait max_wait seconds max
+    wait = max_wait.to_f
+    loop do
       return if server_running?(uri)
       sleep(0.1)
-    end
+      wait -= 0.1
 
-    raise "NATS Server did not start in #{max_wait} seconds"
+      raise "NATS Server did not start in #{max_wait} seconds" if wait <= 0
+    end
   end
 
   def server_running?(uri) # :nodoc:
     s = TCPSocket.new(uri.host, uri.port, nil, nil, connect_timeout: 0.5)
     true
-  rescue
+  rescue => e
+    puts "Server is not available: #{e}" if debug?
     false
   ensure
     s&.close