diff --git a/contrib/docker-device-tool/device_tool.go b/contrib/docker-device-tool/device_tool.go
index 23d19f0237..8ab53de8da 100644
--- a/contrib/docker-device-tool/device_tool.go
+++ b/contrib/docker-device-tool/device_tool.go
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ func main() {
 
 	if *flDebug {
 		os.Setenv("DEBUG", "1")
+		log.SetLevel("debug")
 	}
 
 	if flag.NArg() < 1 {
diff --git a/daemon/daemon.go b/daemon/daemon.go
index 88fb9fde66..145a466486 100644
--- a/daemon/daemon.go
+++ b/daemon/daemon.go
@@ -719,7 +719,6 @@ func NewDaemon(config *Config, eng *engine.Engine) (*Daemon, error) {
 }
 
 func NewDaemonFromDirectory(config *Config, eng *engine.Engine) (*Daemon, error) {
-	// Apply configuration defaults
 	if config.Mtu == 0 {
 		config.Mtu = getDefaultNetworkMtu()
 	}
diff --git a/docker/docker.go b/docker/docker.go
index 92cdd95e0f..bb61d51725 100644
--- a/docker/docker.go
+++ b/docker/docker.go
@@ -5,10 +5,10 @@ import (
 	"crypto/x509"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
-	"log" // see gh#8745, client needs to use go log pkg
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 
+	log "github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/api/client"
 	"github.com/docker/docker/dockerversion"
@@ -36,11 +36,23 @@ func main() {
 		showVersion()
 		return
 	}
-	if *flDebug {
-		os.Setenv("DEBUG", "1")
+
+	if *flLogLevel != "" {
+		lvl, err := log.ParseLevel(*flLogLevel)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatalf("Unable to parse logging level: %s", *flLogLevel)
+		}
+		initLogging(lvl)
+	} else {
+		initLogging(log.InfoLevel)
 	}
 
-	initLogging(*flDebug)
+	// -D, --debug, -l/--log-level=debug processing
+	// When/if -D is removed this block can be deleted
+	if *flDebug {
+		os.Setenv("DEBUG", "1")
+		initLogging(log.DebugLevel)
+	}
 
 	if len(flHosts) == 0 {
 		defaultHost := os.Getenv("DOCKER_HOST")
diff --git a/docker/flags.go b/docker/flags.go
index 31dcbe2cff..78d6b18993 100644
--- a/docker/flags.go
+++ b/docker/flags.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ var (
 	flDaemon      = flag.Bool([]string{"d", "-daemon"}, false, "Enable daemon mode")
 	flDebug       = flag.Bool([]string{"D", "-debug"}, false, "Enable debug mode")
 	flSocketGroup = flag.String([]string{"G", "-group"}, "docker", "Group to assign the unix socket specified by -H when running in daemon mode\nuse '' (the empty string) to disable setting of a group")
+	flLogLevel    = flag.String([]string{"l", "-log-level"}, "info", "Set the logging level")
 	flEnableCors  = flag.Bool([]string{"#api-enable-cors", "-api-enable-cors"}, false, "Enable CORS headers in the remote API")
 	flTls         = flag.Bool([]string{"-tls"}, false, "Use TLS; implied by tls-verify flags")
 	flTlsVerify   = flag.Bool([]string{"-tlsverify"}, dockerTlsVerify, "Use TLS and verify the remote (daemon: verify client, client: verify daemon)")
diff --git a/docker/log.go b/docker/log.go
index a245aed1fb..cdbbd4408f 100644
--- a/docker/log.go
+++ b/docker/log.go
@@ -6,11 +6,7 @@ import (
 	log "github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
-func initLogging(debug bool) {
+func initLogging(lvl log.Level) {
 	log.SetOutput(os.Stderr)
-	if debug {
-		log.SetLevel(log.DebugLevel)
-	} else {
-		log.SetLevel(log.InfoLevel)
-	}
+	log.SetLevel(lvl)
 }
diff --git a/docs/man/docker.1.md b/docs/man/docker.1.md
index 26f5c2133a..f3ff68bc9f 100644
--- a/docs/man/docker.1.md
+++ b/docs/man/docker.1.md
@@ -65,6 +65,9 @@ unix://[/path/to/socket] to use.
 **--iptables**=*true*|*false*
   Disable Docker's addition of iptables rules. Default is true.
 
+**-l**, **--log-level**="*debug*|*info*|*error*|*fatal*""
+  Set the logging level. Default is `info`.
+
 **--mtu**=VALUE
   Set the containers network mtu. Default is `1500`.
 
diff --git a/docs/sources/reference/commandline/cli.md b/docs/sources/reference/commandline/cli.md
index 2da65a2bd1..7526954b12 100644
--- a/docs/sources/reference/commandline/cli.md
+++ b/docs/sources/reference/commandline/cli.md
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ expect an integer, and they can only be specified once.
       --ip-forward=true                          Enable net.ipv4.ip_forward
       --ip-masq=true                             Enable IP masquerading for bridge's IP range
       --iptables=true                            Enable Docker's addition of iptables rules
+       -l, --log-level="info"                    Set the logging level
+
       --mtu=0                                    Set the containers network MTU
                                                    if no value is provided: default to the default route MTU or 1500 if no default route is available
       -p, --pidfile="/var/run/docker.pid"        Path to use for daemon PID file
diff --git a/integration-cli/docker_cli_daemon_test.go b/integration-cli/docker_cli_daemon_test.go
index fa7901d82d..31bfac3f67 100644
--- a/integration-cli/docker_cli_daemon_test.go
+++ b/integration-cli/docker_cli_daemon_test.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package main
 
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
+	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"strings"
@@ -223,3 +224,63 @@ func TestDaemonIptablesCreate(t *testing.T) {
 
 	logDone("daemon - run,iptables - iptables rules for always restarted container created after daemon restart")
 }
+
+func TestDaemonLoggingLevel(t *testing.T) {
+	d := NewDaemon(t)
+
+	if err := d.Start("--log-level=bogus"); err == nil {
+		t.Fatal("Daemon should not have been able to start")
+	}
+
+	d = NewDaemon(t)
+	if err := d.Start("--log-level=debug"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	d.Stop()
+	content, _ := ioutil.ReadFile(d.logFile.Name())
+	if !strings.Contains(string(content), `level="debug"`) {
+		t.Fatalf(`Missing level="debug" in log file:\n%s`, string(content))
+	}
+
+	d = NewDaemon(t)
+	if err := d.Start("--log-level=fatal"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	d.Stop()
+	content, _ = ioutil.ReadFile(d.logFile.Name())
+	if strings.Contains(string(content), `level="debug"`) {
+		t.Fatalf(`Should not have level="debug" in log file:\n%s`, string(content))
+	}
+
+	d = NewDaemon(t)
+	if err := d.Start("-D"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	d.Stop()
+	content, _ = ioutil.ReadFile(d.logFile.Name())
+	if !strings.Contains(string(content), `level="debug"`) {
+		t.Fatalf(`Missing level="debug" in log file using -D:\n%s`, string(content))
+	}
+
+	d = NewDaemon(t)
+	if err := d.Start("--debug"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	d.Stop()
+	content, _ = ioutil.ReadFile(d.logFile.Name())
+	if !strings.Contains(string(content), `level="debug"`) {
+		t.Fatalf(`Missing level="debug" in log file using --debug:\n%s`, string(content))
+	}
+
+	d = NewDaemon(t)
+	if err := d.Start("--debug", "--log-level=fatal"); err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+	d.Stop()
+	content, _ = ioutil.ReadFile(d.logFile.Name())
+	if !strings.Contains(string(content), `level="debug"`) {
+		t.Fatalf(`Missing level="debug" in log file when using both --debug and --log-level=fatal:\n%s`, string(content))
+	}
+
+	logDone("daemon - Logging Level")
+}
diff --git a/integration-cli/docker_cli_run_test.go b/integration-cli/docker_cli_run_test.go
index 54949730a1..ce85f7741b 100644
--- a/integration-cli/docker_cli_run_test.go
+++ b/integration-cli/docker_cli_run_test.go
@@ -1804,7 +1804,7 @@ func TestRunWithBadDevice(t *testing.T) {
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("Run should fail with bad device")
 	}
-	expected := `"/etc": not a device node`
+	expected := `\"/etc\": not a device node`
 	if !strings.Contains(out, expected) {
 		t.Fatalf("Output should contain %q, actual out: %q", expected, out)
 	}
diff --git a/integration-cli/docker_utils.go b/integration-cli/docker_utils.go
index b9660d20b6..61a616ceb2 100644
--- a/integration-cli/docker_utils.go
+++ b/integration-cli/docker_utils.go
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ func NewDaemon(t *testing.T) *Daemon {
 		t.Fatal("Please set the DEST environment variable")
 	}
 
-	dir := filepath.Join(dest, fmt.Sprintf("daemon%d", time.Now().Unix()))
+	dir := filepath.Join(dest, fmt.Sprintf("daemon%d", time.Now().UnixNano()%100000000))
 	daemonFolder, err := filepath.Abs(dir)
 	if err != nil {
 		t.Fatalf("Could not make %q an absolute path: %v", dir, err)
@@ -69,10 +69,23 @@ func (d *Daemon) Start(arg ...string) error {
 
 	args := []string{
 		"--host", d.sock(),
-		"--daemon", "--debug",
+		"--daemon",
 		"--graph", fmt.Sprintf("%s/graph", d.folder),
 		"--pidfile", fmt.Sprintf("%s/docker.pid", d.folder),
 	}
+
+	// If we don't explicitly set the log-level or debug flag(-D) then
+	// turn on debug mode
+	foundIt := false
+	for _, a := range arg {
+		if strings.Contains(a, "--log-level") || strings.Contains(a, "-D") {
+			foundIt = true
+		}
+	}
+	if !foundIt {
+		args = append(args, "--debug")
+	}
+
 	if d.storageDriver != "" {
 		args = append(args, "--storage-driver", d.storageDriver)
 	}
@@ -83,7 +96,7 @@ func (d *Daemon) Start(arg ...string) error {
 	args = append(args, arg...)
 	d.cmd = exec.Command(dockerBinary, args...)
 
-	d.logFile, err = os.OpenFile(filepath.Join(d.folder, "docker.log"), os.O_WRONLY|os.O_CREATE|os.O_APPEND, 0600)
+	d.logFile, err = os.OpenFile(filepath.Join(d.folder, "docker.log"), os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_APPEND, 0600)
 	if err != nil {
 		d.t.Fatalf("Could not create %s/docker.log: %v", d.folder, err)
 	}
@@ -107,8 +120,13 @@ func (d *Daemon) Start(arg ...string) error {
 
 	tick := time.Tick(500 * time.Millisecond)
 	// make sure daemon is ready to receive requests
+	startTime := time.Now().Unix()
 	for {
 		d.t.Log("waiting for daemon to start")
+		if time.Now().Unix()-startTime > 5 {
+			// After 5 seconds, give up
+			return errors.New("Daemon exited and never started")
+		}
 		select {
 		case <-time.After(2 * time.Second):
 			return errors.New("timeout: daemon does not respond")