diff --git a/test/mavsdk_tests/mavsdk_test_runner.py b/test/mavsdk_tests/mavsdk_test_runner.py
index f876ec2af8..e802c1bbf7 100755
--- a/test/mavsdk_tests/mavsdk_test_runner.py
+++ b/test/mavsdk_tests/mavsdk_test_runner.py
@@ -340,11 +340,11 @@ class Tester:
     def run_test_case(self, test: Dict[str, Any],
                       case: str, log_dir: str) -> bool:
 
-        self.start_runners(log_dir, test, case)
-
         logfile_path = self.determine_logfile_path(log_dir, 'combined')
         self.start_combined_log(logfile_path)
 
+        self.start_runners(log_dir, test, case)
+
         test_timeout_s = test['timeout_min']*60
         while self.active_runners[-1].time_elapsed_s() < test_timeout_s:
             returncode = self.active_runners[-1].poll()
@@ -445,29 +445,24 @@ class Tester:
             runner.set_log_filename(
                 self.determine_logfile_path(log_dir, runner.name))
 
-            # Some runners need to be started a couple of times
-            # until they succeed.
-            for _ in range(10):
-                try:
-                    runner.start()
-                except TimeoutError:
-                    abort = True
-                    print("A timeout happened for runner: {}"
-                          .format(runner.name))
-                    break
-
-                if runner.has_started_ok():
-                    break
+            runner.start()
 
-                runner.stop
-                time.sleep(1)
+            if runner.has_started_ok():
+                continue
 
             else:
                 abort = True
-                print("Could not start runner: {}".format(runner.name))
+                print("A timeout happened for runner: {}"
+                      .format(runner.name))
                 break
 
+                runner.stop
+                time.sleep(1)
+
         if abort:
+            print("Could not start runner: {}".format(runner.name))
+            self.collect_runner_output()
+            self.stop_combined_log()
             self.stop_runners()
             sys.exit(1)
 
diff --git a/test/mavsdk_tests/process_helper.py b/test/mavsdk_tests/process_helper.py
index 282ee861f3..6fc385ab92 100644
--- a/test/mavsdk_tests/process_helper.py
+++ b/test/mavsdk_tests/process_helper.py
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ class Runner:
         if returncode is None:
 
             if self.verbose:
-                print("Terminating {}".format(self.cmd))
+                print("Terminating {}".format(self.name))
             self.process.terminate()
 
             try:
@@ -125,13 +125,13 @@ class Runner:
 
             if returncode is None:
                 if self.verbose:
-                    print("Killing {}".format(self.cmd))
+                    print("Killing {}".format(self.name))
                 self.process.kill()
                 returncode = self.process.poll()
 
         if self.verbose:
             print("{} exited with {}".format(
-                self.cmd, self.process.returncode))
+                self.name, self.process.returncode))
 
         self.stop_thread.set()
         self.thread.join()
@@ -223,11 +223,26 @@ class GzserverRunner(Runner):
         self.env["GAZEBO_MODEL_PATH"] = \
             workspace_dir + "/Tools/sitl_gazebo/models"
         self.env["PX4_SIM_SPEED_FACTOR"] = str(speed_factor)
-        self.cmd = "nice"
-        self.args = ["-n 1",
-                     "gzserver", "--verbose",
-                     workspace_dir + "/Tools/sitl_gazebo/worlds/" +
-                     "empty.world"]
+        self.cmd = "stdbuf"
+        self.args = ["-o0", "-e0", "gzserver", "--verbose",
+                     os.path.join(workspace_dir,
+                                  "Tools/sitl_gazebo/worlds",
+                                  "empty.world")]
+
+    def has_started_ok(self) -> bool:
+        # Wait until gzerver has started and connected to gazebo master.
+        timeout_s = 20
+        steps = 10
+        for step in range(steps):
+            with open(self.log_filename, 'r') as f:
+                for line in f.readlines():
+                    if 'Connected to gazebo master' in line:
+                        return True
+            time.sleep(float(timeout_s)/float(steps))
+
+        print("gzserver did not connect within {}s"
+              .format(timeout_s))
+        return False
 
 
 class GzmodelspawnRunner(Runner):
@@ -261,7 +276,11 @@ class GzmodelspawnRunner(Runner):
         else:
             raise Exception("Model not found")
 
-        self.args = ["model", "--spawn-file", model_path,
+        self.cmd = "stdbuf"
+        self.args = ["-o0", "-e0",
+                     "gz", "model",
+                     "--verbose",
+                     "--spawn-file", model_path,
                      "--model-name", self.model,
                      "-x", "1.01", "-y", "0.98", "-z", "0.83"]
 
@@ -271,21 +290,15 @@ class GzmodelspawnRunner(Runner):
         # "An instance of Gazebo is not running." but still returns 0
         # as a result.
         # We work around this by trying to start and then check whether
-        # using has_started_ok() whether it was succesful or not.
-        timeout_s = 3
+        # using has_started_ok() whether it was successful or not.
+        timeout_s = 20
         steps = 10
-        for _ in range(steps*timeout_s):
-            if self.verbose:
-                print("Checking if gz model spawn is done...")
+        for _ in range(steps):
             returncode = self.process.poll()
             if returncode is None:
-                if self.verbose:
-                    print("not done yet")
                 time.sleep(float(timeout_s)/float(steps))
                 continue
 
-            if self.verbose:
-                print("gz model spawn is done")
             with open(self.log_filename, 'r') as f:
                 for line in f.readlines():
                     if 'An instance of Gazebo is not running' in line:
@@ -293,9 +306,8 @@ class GzmodelspawnRunner(Runner):
                 else:
                     return True
 
-        if self.verbose:
-            print("gzmodelspawn did not return within {}s".
-                  format(timeout_s))
+        print("gzmodelspawn did not return within {}s"
+              .format(timeout_s))
         return False