diff --git a/cmd/appstate.go b/cmd/appstate.go
index 1675aaad56..fa4a5767af 100644
--- a/cmd/appstate.go
+++ b/cmd/appstate.go
@@ -55,16 +55,11 @@ func (a *appState) loadConfigFile(ctx context.Context) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("error unmarshalling config: %w", err)
 	}
-	if a.log == nil {
-		debugMode := a.viper.GetBool("debug")
-		logLevel := ""
-		if debugMode {
-			logLevel = "debug"
-		} else {
-			logLevel = a.viper.GetString("log-level")
-			if logLevel == "" {
-				logLevel = cfgWrapper.Global.LogLevel
-			}
+	debugMode := a.viper.GetBool("debug")
+	if !debugMode {
+		logLevel := a.viper.GetString("log-level")
+		if logLevel == "" {
+			logLevel = cfgWrapper.Global.LogLevel
 		}
 		log, err := newRootLogger(a.viper.GetString("log-format"), logLevel)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 3338ca6dcf..672f931e5c 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -73,6 +73,17 @@ func NewRootCmd(log *zap.Logger) *cobra.Command {
 
 	rootCmd.PersistentPreRunE = func(cmd *cobra.Command, _ []string) error {
 		// Inside persistent pre-run because this takes effect after flags are parsed.
+		if log == nil {
+			debugMode := a.viper.GetBool("debug")
+			if !debugMode {
+				logLevel := a.viper.GetString("log-level")
+				log, err := newRootLogger(a.viper.GetString("log-format"), logLevel)
+				if err != nil {
+					return err
+				}
+				a.log = log
+			}
+		}
 		// reads `homeDir/config/config.yaml` into `a.Config`
 		return a.loadConfigFile(rootCmd.Context())
 	}
@@ -100,7 +111,7 @@ func NewRootCmd(log *zap.Logger) *cobra.Command {
 	}
 
 	// Register --log-level flag
-	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().String("log-level", "info", "log level format (info, debug, warn, error, panic or fatal)")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().String("log-level", "", "log level format (info, debug, warn, error, panic or fatal)")
 	if err := a.viper.BindPFlag("log-level", rootCmd.PersistentFlags().Lookup("log-level")); err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}