diff --git a/cake/basics.php b/cake/basics.php
index c553a294d..602bec763 100644
--- a/cake/basics.php
+++ b/cake/basics.php
@@ -92,33 +92,39 @@
  */
 	function debug($var = false, $showHtml = false, $showFrom = true) {
 		if (Configure::read('debug') > 0) {
+			$file = '';
+			$line = '';
 			if ($showFrom) {
 				$calledFrom = debug_backtrace();
-				if(defined('CAKEPHP_SHELL')){
-					echo "##########DEBUG##########\n";
-					echo substr(str_replace(ROOT, '', $calledFrom[0]['file']), 1) ;
-					echo ' (line ' . $calledFrom[0]['line'] . ')'."\n";
-				}else{
-					echo '<strong>' . substr(str_replace(ROOT, '', $calledFrom[0]['file']), 1) . '</strong>';
-					echo ' (line <strong>' . $calledFrom[0]['line'] . '</strong>)';
-				}
-			}
-			if(!defined('CAKEPHP_SHELL')){
-				echo "\n<pre class=\"cake-debug\">\n";
+				$file = substr(str_replace(ROOT, '', $calledFrom[0]['file']), 1);
+				$line = $calledFrom[0]['line'];
 			}
+			$html = <<<HTML
+<strong>%s</strong> (line <strong>%s</strong>)
+<pre class="cake-debug">
+%s
+</pre>
+HTML;
+			$text = <<<TEXT
 
+%s (line %s)
+########## DEBUG ##########
+%s
+###########################
+
+TEXT;
+			$template = $html;
+			if (php_sapi_name() == 'cli') {
+				$template = $text;
+			}
 			$var = print_r($var, true);
 			if ($showHtml) {
 				$var = str_replace('<', '&lt;', str_replace('>', '&gt;', $var));
 			}
-			echo $var . "\n";
-			if(!defined('CAKEPHP_SHELL')){
-				echo "<pre class=\"cake-debug\">\n";
-			}else{
-				echo "#########################\n";
-			};
+			printf($template, $file, $line, $var);
 		}
 	}
+
 if (!function_exists('sortByKey')) {
 
 /**
diff --git a/cake/tests/cases/basics.test.php b/cake/tests/cases/basics.test.php
index 723254a20..6972e0315 100644
--- a/cake/tests/cases/basics.test.php
+++ b/cake/tests/cases/basics.test.php
@@ -585,7 +585,7 @@ class BasicsTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		ob_start();
 			debug('this-is-a-test');
 		$result = ob_get_clean();
-		$pattern = '/.*\>(.+?tests(\/|\\\)cases(\/|\\\)basics\.test\.php|';
+		$pattern = '/(.+?tests(\/|\\\)cases(\/|\\\)basics\.test\.php|';
 		$pattern .= preg_quote(substr(__FILE__, 1), '/') . ')';
 		$pattern .= '.*line.*' . (__LINE__ - 4) . '.*this-is-a-test.*/s';
 		$this->assertPattern($pattern, $result);
@@ -593,7 +593,7 @@ class BasicsTest extends CakeTestCase {
 		ob_start();
 			debug('<div>this-is-a-test</div>', true);
 		$result = ob_get_clean();
-		$pattern = '/.*\>(.+?tests(\/|\\\)cases(\/|\\\)basics\.test\.php|';
+		$pattern = '/(.+?tests(\/|\\\)cases(\/|\\\)basics\.test\.php|';
 		$pattern .= preg_quote(substr(__FILE__, 1), '/') . ')';
 		$pattern .=	'.*line.*' . (__LINE__ - 4) . '.*&lt;div&gt;this-is-a-test&lt;\/div&gt;.*/s';
 		$this->assertPattern($pattern, $result);
