diff --git a/src/Runner.Common/Constants.cs b/src/Runner.Common/Constants.cs
index 95b3039d0..4cba95c75 100644
--- a/src/Runner.Common/Constants.cs
+++ b/src/Runner.Common/Constants.cs
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ namespace GitHub.Runner.Common
             {
                 public static readonly string DiskSpaceWarning = "runner.diskspace.warning";
                 public static readonly string Node12Warning = "DistributedTask.AddWarningToNode12Action";
+                public static readonly string LogTemplateErrorsAsDebugMessage = "DistributedTask.LogTemplateErrorsAsDebugMessage";
                 public static readonly string UseContainerPathForTemplate = "DistributedTask.UseContainerPathForTemplate";
                 public static readonly string AllowRunnerContainerHooks = "DistributedTask.AllowRunnerContainerHooks";
             }
diff --git a/src/Runner.Worker/ExecutionContext.cs b/src/Runner.Worker/ExecutionContext.cs
index 70b78cc63..54e22f458 100644
--- a/src/Runner.Worker/ExecutionContext.cs
+++ b/src/Runner.Worker/ExecutionContext.cs
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ using Newtonsoft.Json;
 using Sdk.RSWebApi.Contracts;
 using ObjectTemplating = GitHub.DistributedTask.ObjectTemplating;
 using Pipelines = GitHub.DistributedTask.Pipelines;
+using constants = GitHub.Runner.Common.Constants;
 
 namespace GitHub.Runner.Worker
 {
@@ -1401,9 +1402,15 @@ namespace GitHub.Runner.Worker
 
         public void Error(string format, params Object[] args)
         {
-            _executionContext.Error(string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, format, args));
+            _executionContext.Global.EnvironmentVariables.TryGetValue(Constants.Runner.Features.LogTemplateErrorsAsDebugMessage, out var logErrorsAsDebug);
+            if (StringUtil.ConvertToBoolean(logErrorsAsDebug, defaultValue: false))
+            {
+                _executionContext.Debug(string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, format, args));
+            }
+            else _executionContext.Error(string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, format, args));
         }
 
+
         public void Info(string format, params Object[] args)
         {
             _executionContext.Debug(string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, $"{format}", args));
diff --git a/src/Sdk/DTObjectTemplating/ObjectTemplating/TemplateContext.cs b/src/Sdk/DTObjectTemplating/ObjectTemplating/TemplateContext.cs
index 87c4762ec..94c803ddb 100644
--- a/src/Sdk/DTObjectTemplating/ObjectTemplating/TemplateContext.cs
+++ b/src/Sdk/DTObjectTemplating/ObjectTemplating/TemplateContext.cs
@@ -152,13 +152,10 @@ namespace GitHub.DistributedTask.ObjectTemplating
             String message)
         {
             var prefix = GetErrorPrefix(fileId, line, column);
-            if (!String.IsNullOrEmpty(prefix))
-            {
-                message = $"{prefix} {message}";
-            }
+            var fullMessage = !String.IsNullOrEmpty(prefix) ? $"{prefix} {message}" : message;
 
-            Errors.Add(message);
-            TraceWriter.Error(message);
+            Errors.Add(fullMessage);
+            TraceWriter.Error(fullMessage);
         }
 
         internal INamedValueInfo[] GetExpressionNamedValues()