diff --git a/src/Symfony/Component/Debug/ErrorHandler.php b/src/Symfony/Component/Debug/ErrorHandler.php
index e3498ccecf..b0699f34a8 100644
--- a/src/Symfony/Component/Debug/ErrorHandler.php
+++ b/src/Symfony/Component/Debug/ErrorHandler.php
@@ -226,7 +226,11 @@ class ErrorHandler
         $level = array_pop(self::$stackedErrorLevels);
 
         if (null !== $level) {
-            error_reporting($level);
+            $e = error_reporting($level);
+            if ($e !== ($level | E_PARSE | E_ERROR | E_CORE_ERROR | E_COMPILE_ERROR)) {
+                // If the user changed the error level, do not overwrite it
+                error_reporting($e);
+            }
         }
 
         if (empty(self::$stackedErrorLevels)) {