diff --git a/src/h5core/h5_errorhandling.c b/src/h5core/h5_errorhandling.c
index c85fdee..ddeaeec 100644
--- a/src/h5core/h5_errorhandling.c
+++ b/src/h5core/h5_errorhandling.c
@@ -244,7 +244,6 @@ h5_verror (
         const char* fmt,
         va_list ap
         ) {
-
-	if ((h5_debug_level & 0x3) < 1) return;
+	if (h5_debug_level == 0) return;
 	h5priv_vprintf (stderr, "E", h5_call_stack.entry[0].name, fmt, ap);
 }
diff --git a/src/include/h5core/h5_errorhandling.h b/src/include/h5core/h5_errorhandling.h
index 11a66a6..f646433 100644
--- a/src/include/h5core/h5_errorhandling.h
+++ b/src/include/h5core/h5_errorhandling.h
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ h5_warn (
         const char* fmt,
         ...
         ) {
-	if ((h5_debug_level & 0x3) >= 2) {
+	if (h5_debug_level >= 2) {
 		va_list ap;
 		va_start (ap, fmt);
 		h5priv_vprintf (stderr, "W", h5_get_funcname(), fmt, ap);
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ h5_info (
         const char* fmt,
         ...
         ) {
-	if ((h5_debug_level & 0x3) == 3) {
+	if (h5_debug_level >= 3) {
 		va_list ap;
 		va_start (ap, fmt);
 		h5priv_vprintf (stdout, "I", h5_get_funcname(), fmt, ap);