diff --git a/searx/__init__.py b/searx/__init__.py
index 7bda2d7f8..c26b2a00c 100644
--- a/searx/__init__.py
+++ b/searx/__init__.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 import sys
 import os
 from os.path import dirname, abspath
+from enum import Enum
 
 import logging
 
@@ -11,14 +12,6 @@ import searx.unixthreadname
 import searx.settings_loader
 from searx.settings_defaults import settings_set_defaults
 
-
-# Debug
-LOG_FORMAT_DEBUG = '%(levelname)-7s %(name)-30.30s: %(message)s'
-
-# Production
-LOG_FORMAT_PROD = '%(asctime)-15s %(levelname)s:%(name)s: %(message)s'
-LOG_LEVEL_PROD = logging.WARNING
-
 searx_dir = abspath(dirname(__file__))
 searx_parent_dir = abspath(dirname(dirname(__file__)))
 settings, settings_load_message = searx.settings_loader.load_settings()
@@ -26,6 +19,31 @@ settings, settings_load_message = searx.settings_loader.load_settings()
 if settings is not None:
     settings = settings_set_defaults(settings)
 
+
+class ValidLogLevels(str, Enum):
+    """Log levels for the application, levels should match ones from the logging
+    module.
+
+    """
+
+    INFO = logging.INFO
+    WARN = logging.WARN
+    WARNING = logging.WARNING
+    ERROR = logging.ERROR
+
+
+# Debug
+LOG_FORMAT_DEBUG = '%(levelname)-7s %(name)-30.30s: %(message)s'
+
+# Production
+LOG_FORMAT_PROD = '%(asctime)-15s %(levelname)s:%(name)s: %(message)s'
+
+searx_loglevel = settings['general']['log_level']
+if searx_loglevel.upper() in list(ValidLogLevels.__members__):
+    LOG_LEVEL_PROD = ValidLogLevels[searx_loglevel.upper()].name
+else:
+    LOG_LEVEL_PROD = logging.WARNING
+
 _unset = object()
 
 
@@ -95,6 +113,7 @@ else:
     logging.root.setLevel(level=LOG_LEVEL_PROD)
     logging.getLogger('werkzeug').setLevel(level=LOG_LEVEL_PROD)
 logger = logging.getLogger('searx')
+logger.setLevel(level=LOG_LEVEL_PROD)
 logger.info(settings_load_message)
 
 # log max_request_timeout
diff --git a/searx/settings.yml b/searx/settings.yml
index 5d16f6377..2f0f1d034 100644
--- a/searx/settings.yml
+++ b/searx/settings.yml
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 general:
   # Debug mode, only for development. Is overwritten by ${SEARXNG_DEBUG}
   debug: false
+  # Application log level - leave blank to use the default 'WARNING' level
+  log_level: "warning"
   # displayed name
   instance_name: "SearXNG"
   # For example: https://example.com/privacy
diff --git a/searx/settings_defaults.py b/searx/settings_defaults.py
index 06cae34bc..e523102e5 100644
--- a/searx/settings_defaults.py
+++ b/searx/settings_defaults.py
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@ def apply_schema(settings, schema, path_list):
 SCHEMA = {
     'general': {
         'debug': SettingsValue(bool, False, 'SEARXNG_DEBUG'),
+        'log_level': SettingsValue(str, 'warning'),
         'instance_name': SettingsValue(str, 'SearXNG'),
         'privacypolicy_url': SettingsValue((None, False, str), None),
         'contact_url': SettingsValue((None, False, str), None),