diff --git a/news/9447.feature.rst b/news/9447.feature.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4be3fb71bd5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/9447.feature.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Require ``-vv`` for full debug-level output, ``-v`` now only enables showing subprocess output, e.g. of ``setup.py install``.
diff --git a/src/pip/_internal/utils/logging.py b/src/pip/_internal/utils/logging.py
index 687bfe3b2f6..bdfeb3ba173 100644
--- a/src/pip/_internal/utils/logging.py
+++ b/src/pip/_internal/utils/logging.py
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ def setup_logging(verbosity, no_color, user_log_file):
     """
 
     # Determine the level to be logging at.
-    if verbosity >= 1:
+    if verbosity >= 2:
         level = "DEBUG"
     elif verbosity == -1:
         level = "WARNING"
@@ -257,6 +257,14 @@ def setup_logging(verbosity, no_color, user_log_file):
     else:
         level = "INFO"
 
+    if verbosity == 1:
+        # verbosity 1 means only subprocess logging is debug-level
+        # disabling capture of subprocess output
+        subprocess_level = "DEBUG"
+        subprocess_logger.setLevel(subprocess_level)
+    else:
+        subprocess_level = level
+
     level_number = getattr(logging, level)
 
     # The "root" logger should match the "console" level *unless* we also need
@@ -334,7 +342,7 @@ def setup_logging(verbosity, no_color, user_log_file):
             # A handler responsible for logging to the console messages
             # from the "subprocessor" logger.
             "console_subprocess": {
-                "level": level,
+                "level": subprocess_level,
                 "class": handler_classes["stream"],
                 "no_color": no_color,
                 "stream": log_streams["stderr"],
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_base_command.py b/tests/unit/test_base_command.py
index 857d4f4f300..b0b7e92fda3 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_base_command.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_base_command.py
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ def test_raise_broken_stdout__debug_logging(self, capsys):
         """
         Test raising BrokenStdoutLoggingError with debug logging enabled.
         """
-        stderr = self.call_main(capsys, ['-v'])
+        stderr = self.call_main(capsys, ['-vv'])
 
         assert 'ERROR: Pipe to stdout was broken' in stderr
         assert 'Traceback (most recent call last):' in stderr
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_utils_subprocess.py b/tests/unit/test_utils_subprocess.py
index ecae2295c88..66e9b696836 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_utils_subprocess.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_utils_subprocess.py
@@ -255,6 +255,7 @@ def prepare_call(self, caplog, log_level, command=None):
             command = 'print("Hello"); print("world")'
 
         caplog.set_level(log_level)
+        subprocess_logger.setLevel(log_level)
         spinner = FakeSpinner()
         args = [sys.executable, '-c', command]