diff --git a/pinos/client/log.c b/pinos/client/log.c
index 9b08099f3..e0d73064b 100644
--- a/pinos/client/log.c
+++ b/pinos/client/log.c
@@ -21,7 +21,9 @@
 
 #include <pinos/client/log.h>
 
-SpaLogLevel pinos_log_level = SPA_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG;
+#define DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL SPA_LOG_LEVEL_ERROR
+
+SpaLogLevel pinos_log_level = DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL;
 
 static void
 do_logv (SpaLog        *log,
@@ -67,7 +69,7 @@ do_log (SpaLog        *log,
 static SpaLog log = {
   sizeof (SpaLog),
   NULL,
-  SPA_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG,
+  DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL,
   do_log,
   do_logv,
 };
@@ -78,6 +80,12 @@ pinos_log_get (void)
   return &log;
 }
 
+void
+pinos_log_set_level (SpaLogLevel level)
+{
+  pinos_log_level = level;
+  log.level = level;
+}
 
 void
 pinos_log_log (SpaLogLevel  level,
@@ -86,7 +94,7 @@ pinos_log_log (SpaLogLevel  level,
                const char  *func,
                const char  *fmt, ...)
 {
-  if (log.level >= level) {
+  if (SPA_UNLIKELY (pinos_log_level_enabled (level))) {
     va_list args;
     va_start (args, fmt);
     do_logv (&log, level, file, line, func, fmt, args);
@@ -102,7 +110,7 @@ pinos_log_logv (SpaLogLevel  level,
                 const char  *fmt,
                 va_list      args)
 {
-  if (log.level >= level) {
+  if (SPA_UNLIKELY (pinos_log_level_enabled (level))) {
     do_logv (&log, level, file, line, func, fmt, args);
   }
 }
diff --git a/pinos/client/log.h b/pinos/client/log.h
index 0f48cffa6..20289e7da 100644
--- a/pinos/client/log.h
+++ b/pinos/client/log.h
@@ -28,25 +28,28 @@ extern "C" {
 
 extern SpaLogLevel pinos_log_level;
 
-SpaLog *      pinos_log_get    (void);
+SpaLog *      pinos_log_get       (void);
 
+void          pinos_log_set_level (SpaLogLevel level);
 
-void          pinos_log_log    (SpaLogLevel  level,
-                                const char  *file,
-                                int          line,
-                                const char  *func,
-                                const char  *fmt, ...) SPA_PRINTF_FUNC(5, 6);
-void          pinos_log_logv   (SpaLogLevel  level,
-                                const char  *file,
-                                int          line,
-                                const char  *func,
-                                const char  *fmt,
-                                va_list      args) SPA_PRINTF_FUNC(5, 0);
+void          pinos_log_log       (SpaLogLevel  level,
+                                   const char  *file,
+                                   int          line,
+                                   const char  *func,
+                                   const char  *fmt, ...) SPA_PRINTF_FUNC(5, 6);
+void          pinos_log_logv      (SpaLogLevel  level,
+                                   const char  *file,
+                                   int          line,
+                                   const char  *func,
+                                   const char  *fmt,
+                                   va_list      args) SPA_PRINTF_FUNC(5, 0);
+
+#define pinos_log_level_enabled(lev) (pinos_log_level >= (lev))
 
 #if __STDC_VERSION__ >= 199901L
 
 #define pinos_log_logc(lev,...)                         \
-  if (SPA_UNLIKELY (lev <= pinos_log_level))            \
+  if (SPA_UNLIKELY (pinos_log_level_enabled (lev)))     \
     pinos_log_log(lev,__VA_ARGS__)
 
 #define pinos_log_error(...)           pinos_log_logc(SPA_LOG_LEVEL_ERROR,__FILE__,__LINE__,__func__,__VA_ARGS__)
@@ -60,7 +63,7 @@ void          pinos_log_logv   (SpaLogLevel  level,
 #define PINOS_LOG_FUNC(name,lev)                                                \
 static inline void pinos_log_##name (const char *format, ...)                   \
 {                                                                               \
-  if (lev >= pinos_log_level) {                                                 \
+  if (SPA_UNLIKELY (pinos_log_level_enabled (lev)))                             \
     va_list varargs;                                                            \
     va_start (varargs, format);                                                 \
     pinos_log_logv (lev,__FILE__,__LINE__,__func__,format,varargs);             \
diff --git a/pinos/client/pinos.c b/pinos/client/pinos.c
index ed34f36cd..76f7a0482 100644
--- a/pinos/client/pinos.c
+++ b/pinos/client/pinos.c
@@ -35,6 +35,10 @@
 void
 pinos_init (int *argc, char **argv[])
 {
+  const char *str;
+
+  if ((str = getenv ("PINOS_DEBUG")))
+    pinos_log_set_level (atoi (str));
 }
 
 const char *
diff --git a/pinos/server/link.c b/pinos/server/link.c
index 52e77205f..254fed596 100644
--- a/pinos/server/link.c
+++ b/pinos/server/link.c
@@ -102,7 +102,8 @@ again:
       }
     }
     pinos_log_debug ("Try filter: %p", filter);
-    spa_debug_format (filter);
+    if (pinos_log_level_enabled (SPA_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG))
+      spa_debug_format (filter);
 
     if ((res = spa_node_port_enum_formats (this->output->node->node,
                                            SPA_DIRECTION_OUTPUT,
@@ -118,7 +119,9 @@ again:
       goto error;
     }
     pinos_log_debug ("Got filtered:");
-    spa_debug_format (format);
+    if (pinos_log_level_enabled (SPA_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG))
+      spa_debug_format (format);
+
     spa_format_fixate (format);
   } else if (in_state == SPA_NODE_STATE_CONFIGURE && out_state > SPA_NODE_STATE_CONFIGURE) {
     /* only input needs format */
@@ -142,7 +145,8 @@ again:
     return SPA_RESULT_OK;
 
   pinos_log_debug ("link %p: doing set format", this);
-  spa_debug_format (format);
+  if (pinos_log_level_enabled (SPA_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG))
+    spa_debug_format (format);
 
   if (out_state == SPA_NODE_STATE_CONFIGURE) {
     pinos_log_debug ("link %p: doing set format on output", this);
@@ -371,8 +375,10 @@ do_allocation (PinosLink *this, SpaNodeState in_state, SpaNodeState out_state)
     asprintf (&error, "error get input port info: %d", res);
     goto error;
   }
-  spa_debug_port_info (oinfo);
-  spa_debug_port_info (iinfo);
+  if (pinos_log_level_enabled (SPA_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG)) {
+    spa_debug_port_info (oinfo);
+    spa_debug_port_info (iinfo);
+  }
 
   in_flags = iinfo->flags;
   out_flags = oinfo->flags;