diff --git a/src/ckpool.c b/src/ckpool.c
index 72965287..0ed45ebd 100644
--- a/src/ckpool.c
+++ b/src/ckpool.c
@@ -303,7 +303,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	global_ckp = &ckp;
 	memset(&ckp, 0, sizeof(ckp));
-	while ((c = getopt(argc, argv, "c:n:s:")) != -1) {
+	ckp.loglevel = LOG_NOTICE;
+
+	while ((c = getopt(argc, argv, "c:n:s:l:")) != -1) {
 		switch (c) {
 			case 'c':
 				ckp.config = optarg;
@@ -314,6 +316,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 			case 's':
 				ckp.socket_dir = strdup(optarg);
 				break;
+			case 'l':
+				ckp.loglevel = atoi(optarg);
+				if (ckp.loglevel < LOG_EMERG || ckp.loglevel > LOG_DEBUG) {
+					quit(1, "Invalid loglevel (range %d - %d): %d",
+					     LOG_EMERG, LOG_DEBUG, ckp.loglevel);
+				}
+				break;
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/ckpool.h b/src/ckpool.h
index 6756df9b..79bf2e72 100644
--- a/src/ckpool.h
+++ b/src/ckpool.h
@@ -65,4 +65,44 @@ struct ckpool_instance {
 
 ckpool_t *global_ckp;
 
+/* Placeholders for when we have more comprehensive logging facilities */
+
+#define LOGMSG(_loglevel, fmt, ...) do { \
+	if (global_ckp->loglevel >= _loglevel && fmt) { \
+		fprintf(stderr, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__); \
+		fprintf(stderr, "\n"); \
+		if (_loglevel <= LOG_ERR) \
+			fprintf(stderr, " with errno %d: %s", errno, strerror(errno)); \
+		fflush(stderr); \
+	} \
+} while (0)
+
+#define LOGEMERG(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(LOG_EMERG, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+#define LOGALERT(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(LOG_ALERT, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+#define LOGCRIT(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(LOG_CRIT, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+#define LOGERR(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(LOG_ERR, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+#define LOGWARNING(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(LOG_WARNING, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+#define LOGNOTICE(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(LOG_NOTICE, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+#define LOGINFO(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(LOG_INFO, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+#define LOGDEBUG(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(LOG_DEBUG, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+
+#define IN_FMT_FFL " in %s %s():%d"
+#define quitfrom(status, _file, _func, _line, fmt, ...) do { \
+	if (fmt) { \
+		fprintf(stderr, fmt IN_FMT_FFL, ##__VA_ARGS__, _file, _func, _line); \
+		fprintf(stderr, "\n"); \
+		fflush(stderr); \
+	} \
+	exit(status); \
+} while (0)
+
+#define quit(status, fmt, ...) do { \
+	if (fmt) { \
+		fprintf(stderr, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__); \
+		fprintf(stderr, "\n"); \
+		fflush(stderr); \
+	} \
+	exit(status); \
+} while (0)
+
 #endif /* CKPOOL_H */
diff --git a/src/libckpool.h b/src/libckpool.h
index d1b3e272..88c8010d 100644
--- a/src/libckpool.h
+++ b/src/libckpool.h
@@ -173,54 +173,6 @@ static inline void flip_80(void *dest_p, const void *src_p)
 #define	LOG_DEBUG	7	/* debug-level messages */
 #endif
 
-/* Placeholders for when we have more comprehensive logging facilities */
-#define LOGERR(fmt, ...) do { \
-	if (fmt) { \
-		fprintf(stderr, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__); \
-		if (errno)\
-			fprintf(stderr, " with errno %d:%s", errno, strerror(errno)); \
-		fprintf(stderr, "\n"); \
-		fflush(stderr); \
-	} \
-} while (0)
-
-#define LOGMSG(fmt, ...) do { \
-	if (fmt) { \
-		fprintf(stderr, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__); \
-		fprintf(stderr, "\n"); \
-		fflush(stderr); \
-	} \
-} while (0)
-
-#define LOGEMERG(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
-#define LOGALERT(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
-#define LOGCRIT(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
-#define LOGWARNING(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
-#define LOGNOTICE(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
-#define LOGINFO(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
-#define LOGDEBUG(fmt, ...) LOGMSG(fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__)
-
-#define IN_FMT_FFL " in %s %s():%d"
-#define quitfrom(status, _file, _func, _line, fmt, ...) do { \
-	if (fmt) { \
-		fprintf(stderr, fmt IN_FMT_FFL, ##__VA_ARGS__, _file, _func, _line); \
-		fprintf(stderr, "\n"); \
-		fflush(stderr); \
-	} \
-	exit(status); \
-} while (0)
-
-#define quit(status, fmt, ...) do { \
-	if (fmt) { \
-		fprintf(stderr, fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__); \
-		if (status || errno)\
-			fprintf(stderr, " with errno %d:%s", errno, strerror(errno)); \
-		fprintf(stderr, "\n"); \
-		fflush(stderr); \
-	} \
-	exit(status); \
-} while (0)
-
 #define PAGESIZE (4096)
 
 /* ck locks, a write biased variant of rwlocks */