diff --git a/pkg/logging/logging.go b/pkg/logging/logging.go
index 4fa3e9082d..04551fabd0 100644
--- a/pkg/logging/logging.go
+++ b/pkg/logging/logging.go
@@ -52,12 +52,12 @@ func Info(f string, a ...any) {
 // Error prints info to stderr but does not end the program
 func Error(f string, a ...any) {
 	msg := fmt.Sprintf(f, a...)
-	errorlog.Printf("%s ERROR: %s", formatTs(), msg)
+	errorlog.Printf("%s: %s", formatTs(), msg)
 }
 
 // Fatal prints info to stderr and ends the program
 func Fatal(f string, a ...any) {
 	msg := fmt.Sprintf(f, a...)
-	fatallog.Printf("%s FATAL: %s", formatTs(), msg)
+	fatallog.Printf("%s: %s", formatTs(), msg)
 	Exit(1)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/shell/writer.go b/pkg/shell/writer.go
index ceaa565f8a..1eb61994bd 100644
--- a/pkg/shell/writer.go
+++ b/pkg/shell/writer.go
@@ -59,16 +59,29 @@ func (w *timestampWriter) Write(p []byte) (n int, err error) {
 		w.startOfLine = false
 	}
 
-	// Single atomic write to the underlying writer
-	nWritten, err := w.writer.Write(buf.Bytes())
-	return nWritten, err
-}
+	// Perform the actual write
+	_, err = w.writer.Write(buf.Bytes())
+
+	if err != nil {
+		// If an error occurred, we return 0 bytes of 'p' were written.
+		// This satisfies the "n < len(p)" rule for errors.
+		return 0, err
+	}
 
+	return len(p), nil
+}
 func (w *timestampWriter) writeSegment(buf *bytes.Buffer, p []byte) {
 	if w.startOfLine {
-		ts := time.Now().UTC().Format(time.RFC3339)
-		coloredTs := logging.TsColor.Sprint(ts)
-		buf.WriteString(coloredTs + " ")
+		if len(p) > 0 {
+			switch p[0] {
+			case ' ', '\t', '\n':
+				// Do not add timestamp for indented or empty lines.
+			default:
+				ts := time.Now().UTC().Format(time.RFC3339)
+				coloredTs := logging.TsColor.Sprint(ts)
+				buf.WriteString(coloredTs + " ")
+			}
+		}
 	}
 	buf.Write(p)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/shell/writer_test.go b/pkg/shell/writer_test.go
index b49897791a..96ec88d452 100644
--- a/pkg/shell/writer_test.go
+++ b/pkg/shell/writer_test.go
@@ -29,6 +29,8 @@ func (s *MySuite) TestTimestampWriter(c *C) {
 
 	testCases := []string{
 		"line 1\n",
+		"  indented non-timestamped line\n",
+		"\n", // blank line
 		"line 2 start...",
 		"...line 2 end\n",
 		"line 3",