diff --git a/crates/librqbit/src/tracing_subscriber_config_utils.rs b/crates/librqbit/src/tracing_subscriber_config_utils.rs
index fab8827cf..4ded2100b 100644
--- a/crates/librqbit/src/tracing_subscriber_config_utils.rs
+++ b/crates/librqbit/src/tracing_subscriber_config_utils.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,12 @@ use anyhow::Context;
 use bytes::Bytes;
 use librqbit_core::spawn_utils::spawn;
 use tracing::error_span;
-use tracing_subscriber::fmt::MakeWriter;
+use tracing_subscriber::Layer;
+use tracing_subscriber::{
+    fmt::{self, MakeWriter},
+    prelude::*,
+    EnvFilter,
+};
 
 struct Subscriber {
     tx: tokio::sync::broadcast::Sender<Bytes>,
@@ -53,6 +58,8 @@ pub struct InitLoggingOptions<'a> {
     pub default_rust_log_value: Option<&'a str>,
     pub log_file: Option<&'a str>,
     pub log_file_rust_log: Option<&'a str>,
+    pub log_file_json: bool,
+    pub log_json: bool,
 }
 
 pub struct InitLoggingResult {
@@ -62,7 +69,7 @@ pub struct InitLoggingResult {
 
 #[inline(never)]
 pub fn init_logging(opts: InitLoggingOptions) -> anyhow::Result<InitLoggingResult> {
-    let stderr_filter = EnvFilter::builder()
+    let stdout_filter = EnvFilter::builder()
         .with_default_directive(
             opts.default_rust_log_value
                 .unwrap_or("info")
@@ -72,25 +79,25 @@ pub fn init_logging(opts: InitLoggingOptions) -> anyhow::Result<InitLoggingResul
         .from_env()
         .context("invalid RUST_LOG value")?;
 
-    let (stderr_filter, reload_stderr_filter) =
-        tracing_subscriber::reload::Layer::new(stderr_filter);
+    let (filter_layer, reload_handle) = tracing_subscriber::reload::Layer::new(stdout_filter);
+    let (line_sub, line_broadcast) = Subscriber::new();
 
-    use tracing_subscriber::{fmt, prelude::*, EnvFilter};
+    let stdout_layer: Box<dyn Layer<_> + Send + Sync> = if opts.log_json {
+        Box::new(fmt::layer().json())
+    } else {
+        Box::new(fmt::layer())
+    };
 
-    let (line_sub, line_broadcast) = Subscriber::new();
+    let http_api_log_broadcast_layer = fmt::layer()
+        .with_ansi(false)
+        .fmt_fields(tracing_subscriber::fmt::format::JsonFields::new())
+        .event_format(fmt::format().with_ansi(false).json())
+        .with_writer(line_sub)
+        .with_filter(EnvFilter::builder().parse("info,librqbit=debug").unwrap());
 
     let layered = tracing_subscriber::registry()
-        // Stderr logging layer.
-        .with(fmt::layer().with_filter(stderr_filter))
-        // HTTP API log broadcast layer.
-        .with(
-            fmt::layer()
-                .with_ansi(false)
-                .fmt_fields(tracing_subscriber::fmt::format::JsonFields::new())
-                .event_format(fmt::format().with_ansi(false).json())
-                .with_writer(line_sub)
-                .with_filter(EnvFilter::builder().parse("info,librqbit=debug").unwrap()),
-        );
+        .with(stdout_layer.with_filter(filter_layer))
+        .with(http_api_log_broadcast_layer);
 
     #[cfg(feature = "tokio-console")]
     let console_layer = console_subscriber::spawn();
@@ -107,19 +114,27 @@ pub fn init_logging(opts: InitLoggingOptions) -> anyhow::Result<InitLoggingResul
                 .open(&log_file)
                 .with_context(|| format!("error opening log file {:?}", log_file))?,
         ));
-        layered
-            .with(
+        let log_env_filter = EnvFilter::builder()
+            .parse(opts.log_file_rust_log.unwrap_or("info,librqbit=debug"))
+            .context("can't parse log-file-rust-log")?;
+        let log_layer: Box<dyn Layer<_> + Send + Sync> = if opts.log_file_json {
+            Box::new(
                 fmt::layer()
-                    .with_ansi(false)
+                    .json()
                     .with_writer(log_file)
-                    .with_filter(
-                        EnvFilter::builder()
-                            .parse(opts.log_file_rust_log.unwrap_or("info,librqbit=debug"))
-                            .context("can't parse log-file-rust-log")?,
-                    ),
+                    .with_filter(log_env_filter),
             )
+        } else {
+            Box::new(
+                fmt::layer()
+                    .with_writer(log_file)
+                    .with_filter(log_env_filter),
+            )
+        };
+        layered
+            .with(log_layer)
             .try_init()
-            .context("can't init logging")?;
+            .context("Can't init file logging")?;
     } else {
         layered.try_init().context("can't init logging")?;
     }
@@ -127,7 +142,7 @@ pub fn init_logging(opts: InitLoggingOptions) -> anyhow::Result<InitLoggingResul
     let (reload_tx, mut reload_rx) = tokio::sync::mpsc::unbounded_channel::<String>();
     spawn(error_span!("fmt_filter_reloader"), async move {
         while let Some(rust_log) = reload_rx.recv().await {
-            let stderr_env_filter = match EnvFilter::builder().parse(&rust_log) {
+            let stdout_env_filter = match EnvFilter::builder().parse(&rust_log) {
                 Ok(f) => f,
                 Err(e) => {
                     eprintln!("can't parse env filter {:?}: {:#?}", rust_log, e);
@@ -135,7 +150,7 @@ pub fn init_logging(opts: InitLoggingOptions) -> anyhow::Result<InitLoggingResul
                 }
             };
             eprintln!("setting RUST_LOG to {:?}", rust_log);
-            let _ = reload_stderr_filter.reload(stderr_env_filter);
+            let _ = reload_handle.reload(stdout_env_filter);
         }
         Ok(())
     });
diff --git a/crates/rqbit/src/main.rs b/crates/rqbit/src/main.rs
index 3089ad87b..af4272ab2 100644
--- a/crates/rqbit/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/rqbit/src/main.rs
@@ -83,6 +83,14 @@ struct Opts {
     )]
     log_file_rust_log: String,
 
+    /// Logging to console (ie, stdout) will emit each log record as a json object
+    #[arg(long = "log-json", env = "RQBIT_LOG_JSON")]
+    log_json: bool,
+
+    /// Log file will contain json-formatted log records
+    #[arg(long = "log-file-json", env = "RQBIT_LOG_FILE_JSON")]
+    log_file_json: bool,
+
     /// The interval to poll trackers, e.g. 30s.
     /// Trackers send the refresh interval when we connect to them. Often this is
     /// pretty big, e.g. 30 minutes. This can force a certain value.
@@ -438,6 +446,8 @@ async fn async_main(opts: Opts, cancel: CancellationToken) -> anyhow::Result<()>
         }),
         log_file: opts.log_file.as_deref(),
         log_file_rust_log: Some(&opts.log_file_rust_log),
+        log_file_json: opts.log_file_json,
+        log_json: opts.log_json,
     })?;
 
     match librqbit::try_increase_nofile_limit() {
diff --git a/desktop/src-tauri/src/main.rs b/desktop/src-tauri/src/main.rs
index 3b215ca93..479347043 100644
--- a/desktop/src-tauri/src/main.rs
+++ b/desktop/src-tauri/src/main.rs
@@ -385,6 +385,8 @@ async fn start() {
         default_rust_log_value: Some("info"),
         log_file: None,
         log_file_rust_log: None,
+        log_file_json: false,
+        log_json: false,
     })
     .unwrap();