diff --git a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/AnsiConsole.cs b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/AnsiConsole.cs
index 7d5485095..7401af673 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/AnsiConsole.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/AnsiConsole.cs
@@ -51,12 +51,19 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils
     
             Console.ForegroundColor = (ConsoleColor)((int)Console.ForegroundColor ^ 0x08);
         }
-    
+
         public void WriteLine(string message)
+        {
+            Write(message);
+            Writer.WriteLine();
+        }
+
+
+        public void Write(string message)
         {
             if (!_useConsoleColor)
             {
-                Writer.WriteLine(message);
+                Writer.Write(message);
                 return;
             }
     
@@ -137,7 +144,6 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils
                     escapeScan = endIndex + 1;
                 }
             }
-            Writer.WriteLine();
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/Command.cs b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/Command.cs
index 1480c2c7f..27760424f 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/Command.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/Command.cs
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils
             return this;
         }
 
-        public ICommand ForwardStdOut(TextWriter to = null, bool onlyIfVerbose = false)
+        public ICommand ForwardStdOut(TextWriter to = null, bool onlyIfVerbose = false, bool ansiPassThrough = true)
         {
             ThrowIfRunning();
             if (!onlyIfVerbose || CommandContext.IsVerbose())
@@ -168,6 +168,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils
                 if (to == null)
                 {
                     _stdOut.ForwardTo(writeLine: Reporter.Output.WriteLine);
+                    EnvironmentVariable(CommandContext.Variables.AnsiPassThru, ansiPassThrough.ToString());
                 }
                 else
                 {
@@ -177,7 +178,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils
             return this;
         }
 
-        public ICommand ForwardStdErr(TextWriter to = null, bool onlyIfVerbose = false)
+        public ICommand ForwardStdErr(TextWriter to = null, bool onlyIfVerbose = false, bool ansiPassThrough = true)
         {
             ThrowIfRunning();
             if (!onlyIfVerbose || CommandContext.IsVerbose())
@@ -185,6 +186,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils
                 if (to == null)
                 {
                     _stdErr.ForwardTo(writeLine: Reporter.Error.WriteLine);
+                    EnvironmentVariable(CommandContext.Variables.AnsiPassThru, ansiPassThrough.ToString());
                 }
                 else
                 {
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/ICommand.cs b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/ICommand.cs
index 1b7cde7b6..9f1cfe3a2 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/ICommand.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/ICommand.cs
@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils
 
         ICommand CaptureStdErr();
 
-        ICommand ForwardStdOut(TextWriter to = null, bool onlyIfVerbose = false);
+        ICommand ForwardStdOut(TextWriter to = null, bool onlyIfVerbose = false, bool ansiPassThrough = true);
 
-        ICommand ForwardStdErr(TextWriter to = null, bool onlyIfVerbose = false);
+        ICommand ForwardStdErr(TextWriter to = null, bool onlyIfVerbose = false, bool ansiPassThrough = true);
 
         ICommand OnOutputLine(Action<string> handler);
 
diff --git a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/Reporter.cs b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/Reporter.cs
index c27314fc5..67d6220a3 100644
--- a/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/Reporter.cs
+++ b/src/Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils/Reporter.cs
@@ -55,7 +55,14 @@ namespace Microsoft.DotNet.Cli.Utils
         {
             lock (_lock)
             {
-                _console?.Writer?.Write(message);
+                if (CommandContext.ShouldPassAnsiCodesThrough())
+                {
+                    _console?.Writer?.Write(message);
+                }
+                else
+                {
+                    _console?.Write(message);
+                }
             }
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/dotnet/Program.cs b/src/dotnet/Program.cs
index 4d4e0acff..e2de0504c 100644
--- a/src/dotnet/Program.cs
+++ b/src/dotnet/Program.cs
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ Common Commands:
         {
             // CommandLineApplication is a bit restrictive, so we parse things ourselves here. Individual apps should use CLA.
 
-            var verbose = false;
+            bool? verbose = null;
             var success = true;
             var command = string.Empty;
             var lastArg = 0;
@@ -114,6 +114,11 @@ Common Commands:
 
             var appArgs = (lastArg + 1) >= args.Length ? Enumerable.Empty<string>() : args.Skip(lastArg + 1).ToArray();
 
+            if (verbose.HasValue)
+            {
+                Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(CommandContext.Variables.Verbose, verbose.ToString());
+            }
+
             if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(command) || command.Equals("help", StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
             {
                 return RunHelpCommand(appArgs);
@@ -140,15 +145,10 @@ Common Commands:
             Func<string[], int> builtIn;
             if (builtIns.TryGetValue(command, out builtIn))
             {
-                // mimic the env variable
-                Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(CommandContext.Variables.Verbose, verbose.ToString());
-                Environment.SetEnvironmentVariable(CommandContext.Variables.AnsiPassThru, bool.TrueString);
                 return builtIn(appArgs.ToArray());
             }
 
             return Command.Create("dotnet-" + command, appArgs, FrameworkConstants.CommonFrameworks.DnxCore50)
-                .EnvironmentVariable(CommandContext.Variables.Verbose, verbose.ToString())
-                .EnvironmentVariable(CommandContext.Variables.AnsiPassThru, bool.TrueString)
                 .ForwardStdErr()
                 .ForwardStdOut()
                 .Execute()