diff --git a/cmd/agent/agent.go b/cmd/agent/agent.go
index 5070779537..faa1a1d7ab 100644
--- a/cmd/agent/agent.go
+++ b/cmd/agent/agent.go
@@ -49,12 +49,6 @@ func loop(c *cli.Context) error {
 		hostname, _ = os.Hostname()
 	}
 
-	if c.BoolT("debug") {
-		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.DebugLevel)
-	} else {
-		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.WarnLevel)
-	}
-
 	if c.Bool("pretty") {
 		log.Logger = log.Output(
 			zerolog.ConsoleWriter{
@@ -64,6 +58,23 @@ func loop(c *cli.Context) error {
 		)
 	}
 
+	zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.WarnLevel)
+	if c.BoolT("debug") {
+		if c.IsSet("debug") {
+			log.Warn().Msg("--debug is deprecated, use --log-level instead")
+		}
+		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.DebugLevel)
+	}
+
+	if c.IsSet("log-level") {
+		logLevelFlag := c.String("log-level")
+		lvl, err := zerolog.ParseLevel(logLevelFlag)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatal().Msgf("unknown logging level: %s", logLevelFlag)
+		}
+		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(lvl)
+	}
+
 	counter.Polling = c.Int("max-procs")
 	counter.Running = 0
 
diff --git a/cmd/agent/flags.go b/cmd/agent/flags.go
index 254b8d17d3..d87d279520 100644
--- a/cmd/agent/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/agent/flags.go
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ var flags = []cli.Flag{
 		Name:   "debug",
 		Usage:  "enable agent debug mode",
 	},
+	cli.StringFlag{
+		EnvVar: "WOODPECKER_LOG_LEVEL",
+		Name:   "log-level",
+		Usage:  "set logging level",
+	},
 	cli.BoolFlag{
 		EnvVar: "WOODPECKER_DEBUG_PRETTY",
 		Name:   "pretty",
diff --git a/cmd/server/flags.go b/cmd/server/flags.go
index a0087f7c7d..f9bb83b1bf 100644
--- a/cmd/server/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/server/flags.go
@@ -26,6 +26,11 @@ var flags = []cli.Flag{
 		Name:   "debug",
 		Usage:  "enable server debug mode",
 	},
+	cli.StringFlag{
+		EnvVar: "WOODPECKER_LOG_LEVEL",
+		Name:   "log-level",
+		Usage:  "set logging level",
+	},
 	cli.BoolFlag{
 		EnvVar: "WOODPECKER_DEBUG_PRETTY",
 		Name:   "pretty",
diff --git a/cmd/server/server.go b/cmd/server/server.go
index 74ea3240d3..3ae8abac5b 100644
--- a/cmd/server/server.go
+++ b/cmd/server/server.go
@@ -52,14 +52,6 @@ import (
 
 func loop(c *cli.Context) error {
 
-	// debug level if requested by user
-	// TODO: format output & options to switch to json aka. option to add channels to send logs to
-	if c.Bool("debug") {
-		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.DebugLevel)
-	} else {
-		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.WarnLevel)
-	}
-
 	if c.Bool("pretty") {
 		log.Logger = log.Output(
 			zerolog.ConsoleWriter{
@@ -69,6 +61,23 @@ func loop(c *cli.Context) error {
 		)
 	}
 
+	// debug level if requested by user
+	// TODO: format output & options to switch to json aka. option to add channels to send logs to
+	zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.WarnLevel)
+	if c.Bool("debug") {
+		log.Warn().Msg("--debug is deprecated, use --log-level instead")
+		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(zerolog.DebugLevel)
+	}
+
+	if c.IsSet("log-level") {
+		logLevelFlag := c.String("log-level")
+		lvl, err := zerolog.ParseLevel(logLevelFlag)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatal().Msgf("unknown logging level: %s", logLevelFlag)
+		}
+		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(lvl)
+	}
+
 	if c.String("server-host") == "" {
 		log.Fatal().Msg("WOODPECKER_HOST is not properly configured")
 	}