diff --git a/docs/docs/reference/cli.md b/docs/docs/reference/cli.md
index 6303eb33..601e61ae 100644
--- a/docs/docs/reference/cli.md
+++ b/docs/docs/reference/cli.md
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ Run a signed executable in an enclave. You can pass arbitrary arguments to the e
 Environment variables are only readable from within the enclave if they start with `EDG_`.
 
 Set OE_SIMULATION=1 to run in simulation mode.
+Set EDG_LOG_FORMAT=json to enable JSON-structured logs for EGo's startup code.
 
 ```
 ego run <executable> [args...]
@@ -86,6 +87,7 @@ Requires the following configuration environment variables:
   EDG_MARBLE_UUID_FILE          The location where this Marble will store its UUID
 
 Set OE_SIMULATION=1 to run in simulation mode.
+Set EDG_LOG_FORMAT=json to enable JSON-structured logs for EGo's startup code.
 
 ```
 ego marblerun <executable>
diff --git a/ego/ego/cmd/marblerun.go b/ego/ego/cmd/marblerun.go
index 1f7920cf..fcb88856 100644
--- a/ego/ego/cmd/marblerun.go
+++ b/ego/ego/cmd/marblerun.go
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ Requires the following configuration environment variables:
   EDG_MARBLE_DNS_NAMES          The alternative DNS names for this Marble's TLS certificate
   EDG_MARBLE_UUID_FILE          The location where this Marble will store its UUID
 
-Set OE_SIMULATION=1 to run in simulation mode.`,
+Set OE_SIMULATION=1 to run in simulation mode.
+Set EDG_LOG_FORMAT=json to enable JSON-structured logs for EGo's startup code.`,
 		Args:                  cobra.ExactArgs(1),
 		DisableFlagsInUseLine: true,
 
diff --git a/ego/ego/cmd/run.go b/ego/ego/cmd/run.go
index 7e4f9054..263cbf02 100644
--- a/ego/ego/cmd/run.go
+++ b/ego/ego/cmd/run.go
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ func newRunCmd() *cobra.Command {
 
 Environment variables are only readable from within the enclave if they start with ` + "`EDG_`" + `.
 
-Set OE_SIMULATION=1 to run in simulation mode.`,
+Set OE_SIMULATION=1 to run in simulation mode.
+Set EDG_LOG_FORMAT=json to enable JSON-structured logs for EGo's startup code.`,
 		Args:                  cobra.MinimumNArgs(1),
 		DisableFlagParsing:    true,
 		DisableFlagsInUseLine: true,
diff --git a/ego/ego/main.go b/ego/ego/main.go
index 8f0ae674..b3e42ce8 100644
--- a/ego/ego/main.go
+++ b/ego/ego/main.go
@@ -7,10 +7,11 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
+	"log/slog"
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/edgelesssys/ego/ego/ego/cmd"
+	"github.com/edgelesssys/ego/ego/internal/config"
 )
 
 // Don't touch! Automatically injected at build-time.
@@ -20,7 +21,10 @@ var (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "EGo v%v (%v)\n", version, gitCommit)
+	if config.LogJSON {
+		slog.SetDefault(slog.New(slog.NewJSONHandler(os.Stderr, nil)))
+	}
+	slog.Info("EGo", "version", version, "git_commit", gitCommit)
 	if cmd.Execute() != nil {
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
diff --git a/ego/go.mod b/ego/go.mod
index d1581999..f3c405f3 100644
--- a/ego/go.mod
+++ b/ego/go.mod
@@ -1,23 +1,23 @@
 module github.com/edgelesssys/ego/ego
 
-go 1.20
+go 1.23.3
 
 require (
-	github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun v1.4.1
+	github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun v1.6.1-0.20241120142109-82ce1218cbc5
 	github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0
-	github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.2.8
+	github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.2.9
 	github.com/spf13/afero v1.11.0
 	github.com/spf13/cobra v1.8.1
 	github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0
-	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20240904232852-e7e105dedf7e
-	google.golang.org/grpc v1.64.1
+	golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20241108190413-2d47ceb2692f
+	google.golang.org/grpc v1.68.0
 )
 
 require (
 	github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.5 // indirect
 	github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc // indirect
-	github.com/edgelesssys/ego v1.5.2 // indirect
-	github.com/edgelesssys/era v0.3.3 // indirect
+	github.com/edgelesssys/ego v1.6.0 // indirect
+	github.com/go-jose/go-jose/v4 v4.0.4 // indirect
 	github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 // indirect
 	github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 // indirect
 	github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2 // indirect
@@ -25,12 +25,11 @@ require (
 	github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5 // indirect
 	go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0 // indirect
 	go.uber.org/zap v1.27.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/crypto v0.28.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/net v0.30.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/sys v0.26.0 // indirect
-	golang.org/x/text v0.19.0 // indirect
-	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20240812133136-8ffd90a71988 // indirect
-	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.34.2 // indirect
-	gopkg.in/square/go-jose.v2 v2.6.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/crypto v0.29.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/net v0.31.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/sys v0.27.0 // indirect
+	golang.org/x/text v0.20.0 // indirect
+	google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20241118233622-e639e219e697 // indirect
+	google.golang.org/protobuf v1.35.2 // indirect
 	gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 // indirect
 )
diff --git a/ego/go.sum b/ego/go.sum
index a1cd3d12..599bca82 100644
--- a/ego/go.sum
+++ b/ego/go.sum
@@ -3,20 +3,22 @@ github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.5 h1:ZtcqGrnekaHpVLArFSe4HK5DoKx1T0rq2DwVB
 github.com/cpuguy83/go-md2man/v2 v2.0.5/go.mod h1:tgQtvFlXSQOSOSIRvRPT7W67SCa46tRHOmNcaadrF8o=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc h1:U9qPSI2PIWSS1VwoXQT9A3Wy9MM3WgvqSxFWenqJduM=
 github.com/davecgh/go-spew v1.1.2-0.20180830191138-d8f796af33cc/go.mod h1:J7Y8YcW2NihsgmVo/mv3lAwl/skON4iLHjSsI+c5H38=
-github.com/edgelesssys/ego v1.5.2 h1:DC8H073Z49rGT/0aom1yGOHDVtv2PnTX/9HZlB0Fdv8=
-github.com/edgelesssys/ego v1.5.2/go.mod h1:TLwP4eAy38XUWuV2E71OYX18RAv4ZJpaLEWQFS751t0=
-github.com/edgelesssys/era v0.3.3 h1:EyZvkR/WJceMaV+15lt+CYI0h6mC8pUOFklbbKT8KwQ=
-github.com/edgelesssys/era v0.3.3/go.mod h1:yGYrnt8vxxFUsbMQCMwEBItNK9vNqS0f9YONvr78lBY=
-github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun v1.4.1 h1:k/v1vWuRaynEJtajYVjLKtK0EGpOVxNhd2AvI/63axs=
-github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun v1.4.1/go.mod h1:q+EjAV3OUTHObBpUp7tI774uZCDgVdDEf1vYGi8aXYA=
+github.com/edgelesssys/ego v1.6.0 h1:QfArp8vUwsH1G4966ZQv5i3f1BxsbIP2uOKkIGjsGyQ=
+github.com/edgelesssys/ego v1.6.0/go.mod h1:XAej1u86vecy/UYGxMxDP37LTHTPC3/7cbqNodwcTXE=
+github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun v1.6.1-0.20241120142109-82ce1218cbc5 h1:05n8w5IuIQ1wguJq3sQ6wBFAKiUIHAsO3pEWlctir0Y=
+github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun v1.6.1-0.20241120142109-82ce1218cbc5/go.mod h1:bagQD7OTtT8xOWTA5dXLqd5ci3FVeDqTf7SYXiqczzM=
+github.com/go-jose/go-jose/v4 v4.0.4 h1:VsjPI33J0SB9vQM6PLmNjoHqMQNGPiZ0rHL7Ni7Q6/E=
+github.com/go-jose/go-jose/v4 v4.0.4/go.mod h1:NKb5HO1EZccyMpiZNbdUw/14tiXNyUJh188dfnMCAfc=
+github.com/golang/protobuf v1.5.4 h1:i7eJL8qZTpSEXOPTxNKhASYpMn+8e5Q6AdndVa1dWek=
+github.com/golang/protobuf v1.5.4/go.mod h1:lnTiLA8Wa4RWRcIUkrtSVa5nRhsEGBg48fD6rSs7xps=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0 h1:ofyhxvXcZhMsU5ulbFiLKl/XBFqE1GSq7atu8tAmTRI=
 github.com/google/go-cmp v0.6.0/go.mod h1:17dUlkBOakJ0+DkrSSNjCkIjxS6bF9zb3elmeNGIjoY=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0 h1:NIvaJDMOsjHA8n1jAhLSgzrAzy1Hgr+hNrb57e+94F0=
 github.com/google/uuid v1.6.0/go.mod h1:TIyPZe4MgqvfeYDBFedMoGGpEw/LqOeaOT+nhxU+yHo=
 github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0 h1:wN+x4NVGpMsO7ErUn/mUI3vEoE6Jt13X2s0bqwp9tc8=
 github.com/inconshreveable/mousetrap v1.1.0/go.mod h1:vpF70FUmC8bwa3OWnCshd2FqLfsEA9PFc4w1p2J65bw=
-github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.2.8 h1:+StwCXwm9PdpiEkPyzBXIy+M9KUb4ODm0Zarf1kS5BM=
-github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.2.8/go.mod h1:Lcz8mBdAVJIBVzewtcLocK12l3Y+JytZYpaMropDUws=
+github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.2.9 h1:66ze0taIn2H33fBvCkXuv9BmCwDfafmiIVpKV9kKGuY=
+github.com/klauspost/cpuid/v2 v2.2.9/go.mod h1:rqkxqrZ1EhYM9G+hXH7YdowN5R5RGN6NK4QwQ3WMXF8=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2 h1:Jamvg5psRIccs7FGNTlIRMkT8wgtp5eCXdBlqhYGL6U=
 github.com/pmezard/go-difflib v1.0.1-0.20181226105442-5d4384ee4fb2/go.mod h1:iKH77koFhYxTK1pcRnkKkqfTogsbg7gZNVY4sRDYZ/4=
 github.com/russross/blackfriday/v2 v2.1.0 h1:JIOH55/0cWyOuilr9/qlrm0BSXldqnqwMsf35Ld67mk=
@@ -30,30 +32,28 @@ github.com/spf13/pflag v1.0.5/go.mod h1:McXfInJRrz4CZXVZOBLb0bTZqETkiAhM9Iw0y3An
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0 h1:HtqpIVDClZ4nwg75+f6Lvsy/wHu+3BoSGCbBAcpTsTg=
 github.com/stretchr/testify v1.9.0/go.mod h1:r2ic/lqez/lEtzL7wO/rwa5dbSLXVDPFyf8C91i36aY=
 go.uber.org/goleak v1.3.0 h1:2K3zAYmnTNqV73imy9J1T3WC+gmCePx2hEGkimedGto=
+go.uber.org/goleak v1.3.0/go.mod h1:CoHD4mav9JJNrW/WLlf7HGZPjdw8EucARQHekz1X6bE=
 go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0 h1:blXXJkSxSSfBVBlC76pxqeO+LN3aDfLQo+309xJstO0=
 go.uber.org/multierr v1.11.0/go.mod h1:20+QtiLqy0Nd6FdQB9TLXag12DsQkrbs3htMFfDN80Y=
 go.uber.org/zap v1.27.0 h1:aJMhYGrd5QSmlpLMr2MftRKl7t8J8PTZPA732ud/XR8=
 go.uber.org/zap v1.27.0/go.mod h1:GB2qFLM7cTU87MWRP2mPIjqfIDnGu+VIO4V/SdhGo2E=
-golang.org/x/crypto v0.28.0 h1:GBDwsMXVQi34v5CCYUm2jkJvu4cbtru2U4TN2PSyQnw=
-golang.org/x/crypto v0.28.0/go.mod h1:rmgy+3RHxRZMyY0jjAJShp2zgEdOqj2AO7U0pYmeQ7U=
-golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20240904232852-e7e105dedf7e h1:I88y4caeGeuDQxgdoFPUq097j7kNfw6uvuiNxUBfcBk=
-golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20240904232852-e7e105dedf7e/go.mod h1:akd2r19cwCdwSwWeIdzYQGa/EZZyqcOdwWiwj5L5eKQ=
-golang.org/x/net v0.30.0 h1:AcW1SDZMkb8IpzCdQUaIq2sP4sZ4zw+55h6ynffypl4=
-golang.org/x/net v0.30.0/go.mod h1:2wGyMJ5iFasEhkwi13ChkO/t1ECNC4X4eBKkVFyYFlU=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.5.0/go.mod h1:oPkhp1MJrh7nUepCBck5+mAzfO9JrbApNNgaTdGDITg=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.26.0 h1:KHjCJyddX0LoSTb3J+vWpupP9p0oznkqVk/IfjymZbo=
-golang.org/x/sys v0.26.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=
-golang.org/x/text v0.19.0 h1:kTxAhCbGbxhK0IwgSKiMO5awPoDQ0RpfiVYBfK860YM=
-golang.org/x/text v0.19.0/go.mod h1:BuEKDfySbSR4drPmRPG/7iBdf8hvFMuRexcpahXilzY=
-google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20240812133136-8ffd90a71988 h1:V71AcdLZr2p8dC9dbOIMCpqi4EmRl8wUwnJzXXLmbmc=
-google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20240812133136-8ffd90a71988/go.mod h1:Ue6ibwXGpU+dqIcODieyLOcgj7z8+IcskoNIgZxtrFY=
-google.golang.org/grpc v1.64.1 h1:LKtvyfbX3UGVPFcGqJ9ItpVWW6oN/2XqTxfAnwRRXiA=
-google.golang.org/grpc v1.64.1/go.mod h1:hiQF4LFZelK2WKaP6W0L92zGHtiQdZxk8CrSdvyjeP0=
-google.golang.org/protobuf v1.34.2 h1:6xV6lTsCfpGD21XK49h7MhtcApnLqkfYgPcdHftf6hg=
-google.golang.org/protobuf v1.34.2/go.mod h1:qYOHts0dSfpeUzUFpOMr/WGzszTmLH+DiWniOlNbLDw=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.29.0 h1:L5SG1JTTXupVV3n6sUqMTeWbjAyfPwoda2DLX8J8FrQ=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.29.0/go.mod h1:+F4F4N5hv6v38hfeYwTdx20oUvLLc+QfrE9Ax9HtgRg=
+golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20241108190413-2d47ceb2692f h1:XdNn9LlyWAhLVp6P/i8QYBW+hlyhrhei9uErw2B5GJo=
+golang.org/x/exp v0.0.0-20241108190413-2d47ceb2692f/go.mod h1:D5SMRVC3C2/4+F/DB1wZsLRnSNimn2Sp/NPsCrsv8ak=
+golang.org/x/net v0.31.0 h1:68CPQngjLL0r2AlUKiSxtQFKvzRVbnzLwMUn5SzcLHo=
+golang.org/x/net v0.31.0/go.mod h1:P4fl1q7dY2hnZFxEk4pPSkDHF+QqjitcnDjUQyMM+pM=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.27.0 h1:wBqf8DvsY9Y/2P8gAfPDEYNuS30J4lPHJxXSb/nJZ+s=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.27.0/go.mod h1:/VUhepiaJMQUp4+oa/7Zr1D23ma6VTLIYjOOTFZPUcA=
+golang.org/x/text v0.20.0 h1:gK/Kv2otX8gz+wn7Rmb3vT96ZwuoxnQlY+HlJVj7Qug=
+golang.org/x/text v0.20.0/go.mod h1:D4IsuqiFMhST5bX19pQ9ikHC2GsaKyk/oF+pn3ducp4=
+google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20241118233622-e639e219e697 h1:LWZqQOEjDyONlF1H6afSWpAL/znlREo2tHfLoe+8LMA=
+google.golang.org/genproto/googleapis/rpc v0.0.0-20241118233622-e639e219e697/go.mod h1:5uTbfoYQed2U9p3KIj2/Zzm02PYhndfdmML0qC3q3FU=
+google.golang.org/grpc v1.68.0 h1:aHQeeJbo8zAkAa3pRzrVjZlbz6uSfeOXlJNQM0RAbz0=
+google.golang.org/grpc v1.68.0/go.mod h1:fmSPC5AsjSBCK54MyHRx48kpOti1/jRfOlwEWywNjWA=
+google.golang.org/protobuf v1.35.2 h1:8Ar7bF+apOIoThw1EdZl0p1oWvMqTHmpA2fRTyZO8io=
+google.golang.org/protobuf v1.35.2/go.mod h1:9fA7Ob0pmnwhb644+1+CVWFRbNajQ6iRojtC/QF5bRE=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405 h1:yhCVgyC4o1eVCa2tZl7eS0r+SDo693bJlVdllGtEeKM=
 gopkg.in/check.v1 v0.0.0-20161208181325-20d25e280405/go.mod h1:Co6ibVJAznAaIkqp8huTwlJQCZ016jof/cbN4VW5Yz0=
-gopkg.in/square/go-jose.v2 v2.6.0 h1:NGk74WTnPKBNUhNzQX7PYcTLUjoq7mzKk2OKbvwk2iI=
-gopkg.in/square/go-jose.v2 v2.6.0/go.mod h1:M9dMgbHiYLoDGQrXy7OpJDJWiKiU//h+vD76mk0e1AI=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1 h1:fxVm/GzAzEWqLHuvctI91KS9hhNmmWOoWu0XTYJS7CA=
 gopkg.in/yaml.v3 v3.0.1/go.mod h1:K4uyk7z7BCEPqu6E+C64Yfv1cQ7kz7rIZviUmN+EgEM=
diff --git a/ego/internal/config/config.go b/ego/internal/config/config.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e269557f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ego/internal/config/config.go
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+// Copyright (c) Edgeless Systems GmbH.
+//
+// This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+// License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+// file, You can obtain one at https://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+
+package config
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+var LogJSON = strings.EqualFold(os.Getenv("EDG_LOG_FORMAT"), "json")
diff --git a/ego/internal/launch/jsonifier.go b/ego/internal/launch/jsonifier.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..00804702
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ego/internal/launch/jsonifier.go
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+// Copyright (c) Edgeless Systems GmbH.
+//
+// This Source Code Form is subject to the terms of the Mozilla Public
+// License, v. 2.0. If a copy of the MPL was not distributed with this
+// file, You can obtain one at https://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
+
+package launch
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"io"
+	"log/slog"
+	"regexp"
+)
+
+var rxLogTag = regexp.MustCompile(`^\[(erthost|ego)\] `)
+
+// jsonifier is a writer that rewrites ert/ego log messages to JSON.
+type jsonifier struct {
+	out io.Writer
+	log *slog.Logger
+	buf []byte
+}
+
+func newJsonifier(out io.Writer) *jsonifier {
+	return &jsonifier{
+		out: out,
+		log: slog.New(slog.NewJSONHandler(out, nil)),
+	}
+}
+
+func (j *jsonifier) Write(p []byte) (int, error) {
+	buf := append(j.buf, p...)
+
+	// write out all complete lines in buf
+	for {
+		idx := bytes.IndexByte(buf, '\n')
+		if idx == -1 {
+			break
+		}
+
+		// use JSON logger if line begins with known tag
+		if rxLogTag.Match(buf[:idx]) {
+			j.log.Info(string(buf[:idx]))
+		} else {
+			_, _ = j.out.Write(buf[:idx+1])
+		}
+
+		buf = buf[idx+1:]
+	}
+
+	j.buf = buf
+	return len(p), nil
+}
diff --git a/ego/internal/launch/launch.go b/ego/internal/launch/launch.go
index c8a02f34..c94a016d 100644
--- a/ego/internal/launch/launch.go
+++ b/ego/internal/launch/launch.go
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"syscall"
+
+	"github.com/edgelesssys/ego/ego/internal/config"
 )
 
 // run launches an application with a CappedBuffer and also translates potential Edgeless RT / Open Enclave errors into more user-friendly ones.
@@ -28,7 +30,11 @@ func run(runner Runner, cmd *exec.Cmd) (int, error) {
 
 	// capture stdout and stderr
 	var stdout, stderr cappedBuffer
-	cmd.Stdout = io.MultiWriter(os.Stdout, &stdout)
+	var osStdout io.Writer = os.Stdout
+	if config.LogJSON {
+		osStdout = newJsonifier(osStdout)
+	}
+	cmd.Stdout = io.MultiWriter(osStdout, &stdout)
 	cmd.Stderr = io.MultiWriter(os.Stderr, &stderr)
 
 	if err := runner.Run(cmd); err != nil {