diff --git a/extensions/positron-r/src/lsp.ts b/extensions/positron-r/src/lsp.ts
index 69fbffef644..28850d2f9dd 100644
--- a/extensions/positron-r/src/lsp.ts
+++ b/extensions/positron-r/src/lsp.ts
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ export class ArkLsp implements vscode.Disposable {
 		// With a `.` rather than a `-` so vscode-languageserver can look up related options correctly
 		const id = 'positron.r';
 
-		const message = `Creating ${this._dynState.sessionName} language client for session ${this._metadata.sessionId} on port ${port}`;
+		const message = `Creating language client ${this._dynState.sessionName} for session ${this._metadata.sessionId} on port ${port}`;
 
 		LOGGER.info(message);
 		outputChannel.appendLine(message);
diff --git a/extensions/positron-r/src/test/ark-comm.test.ts b/extensions/positron-r/src/test/ark-comm.test.ts
index dc59e1dd61e..076e38d875b 100644
--- a/extensions/positron-r/src/test/ark-comm.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/positron-r/src/test/ark-comm.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
  *  Licensed under the Elastic License 2.0. See LICENSE.txt for license information.
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
+import './mocha-setup'
+
 import * as assert from 'assert';
 import * as vscode from 'vscode';
 import * as testKit from './kit';
diff --git a/extensions/positron-r/src/test/debugger.test.ts b/extensions/positron-r/src/test/debugger.test.ts
index 4db27e5a7b9..5674c1ec7b6 100644
--- a/extensions/positron-r/src/test/debugger.test.ts
+++ b/extensions/positron-r/src/test/debugger.test.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
  *  Licensed under the Elastic License 2.0. See LICENSE.txt for license information.
  *--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*/
 
+import './mocha-setup'
+
 import * as vscode from 'vscode';
 import * as assert from 'assert';
 import * as testKit from './kit';
diff --git a/extensions/positron-r/src/test/mocha-setup.ts b/extensions/positron-r/src/test/mocha-setup.ts
index 85ad616b8df..c2bf00f8102 100644
--- a/extensions/positron-r/src/test/mocha-setup.ts
+++ b/extensions/positron-r/src/test/mocha-setup.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,10 @@ import * as testKit from './kit';
 export let currentTestName: string | undefined;
 
 suiteSetup(async () => {
-	// Set Ark log level to TRACE for easier debugging of tests
+	// Set global Positron log level to trace for easier debugging
+	await vscode.commands.executeCommand('_extensionTests.setLogLevel', 'trace');
+
+	// Set Ark kernel process log level to trace
 	await vscode.workspace.getConfiguration().update('positron.r.kernel.logLevel', 'trace', vscode.ConfigurationTarget.Global);
 
 	// To be safe