diff --git a/lib/couchrest.rb b/lib/couchrest.rb
index b1bdb80..1f666fd 100644
--- a/lib/couchrest.rb
+++ b/lib/couchrest.rb
@@ -22,12 +22,13 @@ $:.unshift File.dirname(__FILE__) unless
   $:.include?(File.dirname(__FILE__)) ||
   $:.include?(File.expand_path(File.dirname(__FILE__)))
   
+$COUCHREST_DEBUG ||= false
   
 require 'couchrest/monkeypatches'
 
 # = CouchDB, close to the metal
 module CouchRest
-  VERSION = '0.17' unless self.const_defined?("VERSION")
+  VERSION    = '0.17' unless self.const_defined?("VERSION")
   
   autoload :Server,       'couchrest/core/server'
   autoload :Database,     'couchrest/core/database'
@@ -129,7 +130,11 @@ module CouchRest
       begin
         JSON.parse(RestClient.put(uri, payload))
       rescue Exception => e
-        raise "Error while sending a PUT request #{uri}\npayload: #{payload.inspect}\n#{e}"
+        if $COUCHREST_DEBUG == true
+          raise "Error while sending a PUT request #{uri}\npayload: #{payload.inspect}\n#{e}"
+        else
+          raise e
+        end
       end
     end
 
@@ -137,7 +142,11 @@ module CouchRest
       begin
         JSON.parse(RestClient.get(uri), :max_nesting => false)
       rescue => e
-        raise "Error while sending a GET request #{uri}\n: #{e}"
+        if $COUCHREST_DEBUG == true
+          raise "Error while sending a GET request #{uri}\n: #{e}"
+        else
+          raise e
+        end
       end
     end
   
@@ -146,7 +155,11 @@ module CouchRest
       begin
         JSON.parse(RestClient.post(uri, payload))
       rescue Exception => e
-        raise "Error while sending a POST request #{uri}\npayload: #{payload.inspect}\n#{e}"
+        if $COUCHREST_DEBUG == true
+          raise "Error while sending a POST request #{uri}\npayload: #{payload.inspect}\n#{e}"
+        else
+          raise e
+        end
       end
     end
   
diff --git a/lib/couchrest/mixins/views.rb b/lib/couchrest/mixins/views.rb
index fb9269c..b1bcd1d 100644
--- a/lib/couchrest/mixins/views.rb
+++ b/lib/couchrest/mixins/views.rb
@@ -133,9 +133,8 @@ module CouchRest
             fetch_view(name, opts, &block)
           else
             begin
-              # auto load mentioned documents unless asked differently
-              opts.merge({:include_docs => true}) unless opts.has_key?(:include_docs)
-              view = fetch_view name, opts, &block
+              # auto load mentioned documents unless asked differently (didn't use merge! on a previous line to avoid duping the object)
+              view = fetch_view name, (opts.has_key?(:include_docs) ? opts : opts.merge({:include_docs => true})), &block
               view['rows'].collect{|r|new(r['doc'])} if view['rows']
             rescue
               # fallback for old versions of couchdb that don't 
diff --git a/spec/couchrest/more/extended_doc_view_spec.rb b/spec/couchrest/more/extended_doc_view_spec.rb
index 2e47442..46e8534 100644
--- a/spec/couchrest/more/extended_doc_view_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/couchrest/more/extended_doc_view_spec.rb
@@ -105,6 +105,9 @@ describe "ExtendedDocument views" do
 
   describe "a model with a compound key view" do
     before(:all) do
+      Article.design_doc_fresh = false
+      Article.by_user_id_and_date.each{|a| a.destroy(true)}
+      Article.database.bulk_delete
       written_at = Time.now - 24 * 3600 * 7
       @titles = ["uniq one", "even more interesting", "less fun", "not junk"]
       @user_ids = ["quentin", "aaron"]