diff --git a/src/node/utils/Settings.js b/src/node/utils/Settings.js
index 9646c1f89..7125607ea 100644
--- a/src/node/utils/Settings.js
+++ b/src/node/utils/Settings.js
@@ -50,15 +50,14 @@ const nonSettings = [
 
 // This is a function to make it easy to create a new instance. It is important to not reuse a
 // config object after passing it to log4js.configure() because that method mutates the object. :(
-const defaultLogConfig = () => ({appenders: {console: {type: 'console'}},
+const defaultLogConfig = (level) => ({appenders: {console: {type: 'console'}},
   categories: {
-    default: {appenders: ['console'], level: 'info'},
+    default: {appenders: ['console'], level},
   }});
 const defaultLogLevel = 'INFO';
 
 const initLogging = (logLevel, config) => {
   // log4js.configure() modifies exports.logconfig so check for equality first.
-  const logConfigIsDefault = deepEqual(config, defaultLogConfig());
   log4js.configure(config);
   log4js.getLogger('console');
 
@@ -67,19 +66,16 @@ const initLogging = (logLevel, config) => {
   console.log = logger.info.bind(logger);
   console.warn = logger.warn.bind(logger);
   console.error = logger.error.bind(logger);
-
-  // Log the warning after configuring log4js to increase the chances the user will see it.
-  if (!logConfigIsDefault) logger.warn('The logconfig setting is deprecated.');
 };
 
 // Initialize logging as early as possible with reasonable defaults. Logging will be re-initialized
 // with the user's chosen log level and logger config after the settings have been loaded.
-initLogging(defaultLogLevel, defaultLogConfig());
+initLogging(defaultLogLevel, defaultLogConfig(defaultLogLevel));
 
 /* Root path of the installation */
 exports.root = absolutePaths.findEtherpadRoot();
 logger.info('All relative paths will be interpreted relative to the identified ' +
-            `Etherpad base dir: ${exports.root}`);
+    `Etherpad base dir: ${exports.root}`);
 exports.settingsFilename = absolutePaths.makeAbsolute(argv.settings || 'settings.json');
 exports.credentialsFilename = absolutePaths.makeAbsolute(argv.credentials || 'credentials.json');
 
@@ -160,7 +156,7 @@ exports.defaultPadText = [
   'Welcome to Etherpad!',
   '',
   'This pad text is synchronized as you type, so that everyone viewing this page sees the same ' +
-      'text. This allows you to collaborate seamlessly on documents!',
+  'text. This allows you to collaborate seamlessly on documents!',
   '',
   'Etherpad on Github: https://github.com/ether/etherpad-lite',
 ].join('\n');
@@ -298,7 +294,7 @@ exports.indentationOnNewLine = true;
 /*
  * log4js appender configuration
  */
-exports.logconfig = defaultLogConfig();
+exports.logconfig = null;
 
 /*
  * Deprecated cookie signing key.
@@ -646,9 +642,9 @@ const lookupEnvironmentVariables = (obj) => {
 
     if ((envVarValue === undefined) && (defaultValue === undefined)) {
       logger.warn(`Environment variable "${envVarName}" does not contain any value for ` +
-                  `configuration key "${key}", and no default was given. Using null. ` +
-                  'THIS BEHAVIOR MAY CHANGE IN A FUTURE VERSION OF ETHERPAD; you should ' +
-                  'explicitly use "null" as the default if you want to continue to use null.');
+          `configuration key "${key}", and no default was given. Using null. ` +
+          'THIS BEHAVIOR MAY CHANGE IN A FUTURE VERSION OF ETHERPAD; you should ' +
+          'explicitly use "null" as the default if you want to continue to use null.');
 
       /*
        * We have to return null, because if we just returned undefined, the
@@ -659,7 +655,7 @@ const lookupEnvironmentVariables = (obj) => {
 
     if ((envVarValue === undefined) && (defaultValue !== undefined)) {
       logger.debug(`Environment variable "${envVarName}" not found for ` +
-                   `configuration key "${key}". Falling back to default value.`);
+          `configuration key "${key}". Falling back to default value.`);
 
       return coerceValue(defaultValue);
     }
@@ -726,7 +722,7 @@ const parseSettings = (settingsFilename, isSettings) => {
     return replacedSettings;
   } catch (e) {
     logger.error(`There was an error processing your ${settingsType} ` +
-                 `file from ${settingsFilename}: ${e.message}`);
+        `file from ${settingsFilename}: ${e.message}`);
 
     process.exit(1);
   }
@@ -738,11 +734,13 @@ exports.reloadSettings = () => {
   storeSettings(settings);
   storeSettings(credentials);
 
+  // Init logging config
+  exports.logconfig = defaultLogConfig(exports.loglevel ? exports.loglevel : defaultLogLevel);
   initLogging(exports.loglevel, exports.logconfig);
 
   if (!exports.skinName) {
     logger.warn('No "skinName" parameter found. Please check out settings.json.template and ' +
-                'update your settings.json. Falling back to the default "colibris".');
+        'update your settings.json. Falling back to the default "colibris".');
     exports.skinName = 'colibris';
   }
 
@@ -753,7 +751,7 @@ exports.reloadSettings = () => {
 
     if (countPieces !== 1) {
       logger.error(`skinName must be the name of a directory under "${skinBasePath}". This is ` +
-                   `not valid: "${exports.skinName}". Falling back to the default "colibris".`);
+          `not valid: "${exports.skinName}". Falling back to the default "colibris".`);
 
       exports.skinName = 'colibris';
     }
@@ -764,7 +762,7 @@ exports.reloadSettings = () => {
     // what if someone sets skinName == ".." or "."? We catch him!
     if (absolutePaths.isSubdir(skinBasePath, skinPath) === false) {
       logger.error(`Skin path ${skinPath} must be a subdirectory of ${skinBasePath}. ` +
-                   'Falling back to the default "colibris".');
+          'Falling back to the default "colibris".');
 
       exports.skinName = 'colibris';
       skinPath = path.join(skinBasePath, exports.skinName);
@@ -825,9 +823,9 @@ exports.reloadSettings = () => {
     }
   } else {
     logger.warn('Declaring the sessionKey in the settings.json is deprecated. ' +
-                'This value is auto-generated now. Please remove the setting from the file. -- ' +
-                'If you are seeing this error after restarting using the Admin User ' +
-                'Interface then you can ignore this message.');
+        'This value is auto-generated now. Please remove the setting from the file. -- ' +
+        'If you are seeing this error after restarting using the Admin User ' +
+        'Interface then you can ignore this message.');
   }
   if (exports.sessionKey) {
     logger.warn(`The sessionKey setting and ${sessionkeyFilename} file are deprecated; ` +
@@ -847,7 +845,7 @@ exports.reloadSettings = () => {
   if (exports.ip === '') {
     // using Unix socket for connectivity
     logger.warn('The settings file contains an empty string ("") for the "ip" parameter. The ' +
-                '"port" parameter will be interpreted as the path to a Unix socket to bind at.');
+        '"port" parameter will be interpreted as the path to a Unix socket to bind at.');
   }
 
   /*
@@ -871,3 +869,4 @@ exports.exportedForTestingOnly = {
 
 // initially load settings
 exports.reloadSettings();
+