diff --git a/src/debug.py b/src/debug.py
index 30c64ea4..99644066 100644
--- a/src/debug.py
+++ b/src/debug.py
@@ -24,7 +24,9 @@ import helper_startup
 helper_startup.loadConfig()
 
 # TODO(xj9): Get from a config file.
-log_level = 'DEBUG'
+possible_log_levels = ['DEBUG', 'INFO', 'WARNING', 'ERROR', 'CRITICAL']
+config_log_level = shared.config.get('bitmessagesettings', 'loglevel').upper()
+log_level = config_log_level if config_log_level in possible_log_levels else 'DEBUG'
 
 def configureLogging():
     logging.config.dictConfig({
diff --git a/src/shared.py b/src/shared.py
index d82f00a5..3053b6af 100644
--- a/src/shared.py
+++ b/src/shared.py
@@ -34,7 +34,9 @@ import shared
 from helper_sql import *
 
 
-config = ConfigParser.SafeConfigParser()
+config = ConfigParser.SafeConfigParser(
+    defaults={'loglevel':'DEBUG'
+    })
 myECCryptorObjects = {}
 MyECSubscriptionCryptorObjects = {}
 myAddressesByHash = {} #The key in this dictionary is the RIPE hash which is encoded in an address and value is the address itself.