diff --git a/spa/include/spa/support/log.h b/spa/include/spa/support/log.h
index 4346b9ae3..74a2fef10 100644
--- a/spa/include/spa/support/log.h
+++ b/spa/include/spa/support/log.h
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ static inline void spa_log_trace_fp (struct spa_log *l, const char *format, ...)
 #endif
 
 /** keys can be given when initializing the logger handle */
+#define SPA_KEY_LOG_LEVEL		"log.level"		/**< the default log level */
 #define SPA_KEY_LOG_COLORS		"log.colors"		/**< enable colors in the logger */
 #define SPA_KEY_LOG_FILE		"log.file"		/**< log to the specified file instead of
 								  *  stderr. */
diff --git a/spa/plugins/support/logger.c b/spa/plugins/support/logger.c
index 18561837f..839f2da20 100644
--- a/spa/plugins/support/logger.c
+++ b/spa/plugins/support/logger.c
@@ -228,6 +228,8 @@ impl_init(const struct spa_handle_factory *factory,
 	if (info) {
 		if ((str = spa_dict_lookup(info, SPA_KEY_LOG_COLORS)) != NULL)
 			this->colors = (strcmp(str, "true") == 0 || atoi(str) == 1);
+		if ((str = spa_dict_lookup(info, SPA_KEY_LOG_LEVEL)) != NULL)
+			this->log.level = atoi(str);
 		if ((str = spa_dict_lookup(info, SPA_KEY_LOG_FILE)) != NULL) {
 			this->file = fopen(str, "w");
 			if (this->file == NULL)