diff --git a/embed/config.go b/embed/config.go
index 2106db1e8ae..d223b6696e2 100644
--- a/embed/config.go
+++ b/embed/config.go
@@ -15,11 +15,13 @@
 package embed
 
 import (
+	"crypto/tls"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/url"
+	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -31,8 +33,10 @@ import (
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/transport"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/types"
 
+	"github.com/coreos/pkg/capnslog"
 	"github.com/ghodss/yaml"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
+	"google.golang.org/grpc/grpclog"
 )
 
 const (
@@ -136,6 +140,7 @@ type Config struct {
 
 	Debug                 bool   `json:"debug"`
 	LogPkgLevels          string `json:"log-package-levels"`
+	LogOutput             string `json:"log-output"`
 	EnablePprof           bool   `json:"enable-pprof"`
 	Metrics               string `json:"metrics"`
 	ListenMetricsUrls     []url.URL
@@ -228,6 +233,45 @@ func NewConfig() *Config {
 	return cfg
 }
 
+// SetupLogging initializes etcd logging.
+// Must be called after flag parsing.
+func (cfg *Config) SetupLogging() {
+	cfg.ClientTLSInfo.HandshakeFailure = func(conn *tls.Conn, err error) {
+		plog.Infof("rejected connection from %q (%v)", conn.RemoteAddr().String(), err)
+	}
+	cfg.PeerTLSInfo.HandshakeFailure = cfg.ClientTLSInfo.HandshakeFailure
+
+	capnslog.SetGlobalLogLevel(capnslog.INFO)
+	if cfg.Debug {
+		capnslog.SetGlobalLogLevel(capnslog.DEBUG)
+		grpc.EnableTracing = true
+	} else {
+		grpclog.SetLoggerV2(grpclog.NewLoggerV2(ioutil.Discard, ioutil.Discard, ioutil.Discard))
+	}
+	if cfg.LogPkgLevels != "" {
+		repoLog := capnslog.MustRepoLogger("github.com/coreos/etcd")
+		settings, err := repoLog.ParseLogLevelConfig(cfg.LogPkgLevels)
+		if err != nil {
+			plog.Warningf("couldn't parse log level string: %s, continuing with default levels", err.Error())
+			return
+		}
+		repoLog.SetLogLevel(settings)
+	}
+
+	// capnslog initially SetFormatter(NewDefaultFormatter(os.Stderr))
+	// where NewDefaultFormatter returns NewJournaldFormatter when syscall.Getppid() == 1
+	// specify 'stdout' or 'stderr' to skip journald logging even when running under systemd
+	switch cfg.LogOutput {
+	case "stdout":
+		capnslog.SetFormatter(capnslog.NewPrettyFormatter(os.Stdout, cfg.Debug))
+	case "stderr":
+		capnslog.SetFormatter(capnslog.NewPrettyFormatter(os.Stderr, cfg.Debug))
+	case "default":
+	default:
+		plog.Panicf(`unknown log-output %q (only supports "default", "stdout", "stderr")`, cfg.LogOutput)
+	}
+}
+
 func ConfigFromFile(path string) (*Config, error) {
 	cfg := &configYAML{Config: *NewConfig()}
 	if err := cfg.configFromFile(path); err != nil {
diff --git a/etcd.conf.yml.sample b/etcd.conf.yml.sample
index 7759e5432b6..0178ed691b1 100644
--- a/etcd.conf.yml.sample
+++ b/etcd.conf.yml.sample
@@ -137,5 +137,8 @@ debug: false
 # Specify a particular log level for each etcd package (eg: 'etcdmain=CRITICAL,etcdserver=DEBUG'.
 log-package-levels:
 
+# Specify 'stdout' or 'stderr' to skip journald logging even when running under systemd.
+log-output: default
+
 # Force to create a new one member cluster.
 force-new-cluster: false
diff --git a/etcdmain/config.go b/etcdmain/config.go
index 17461dacf8f..a186a35103b 100644
--- a/etcdmain/config.go
+++ b/etcdmain/config.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/flags"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/types"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/version"
+
 	"github.com/ghodss/yaml"
 )
 
@@ -80,7 +81,6 @@ type config struct {
 	configFile   string
 	printVersion bool
 	ignored      []string
-	logOutput    string
 }
 
 // configFlags has the set of flags used for command line parsing a Config
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ func newConfig() *config {
 	// logging
 	fs.BoolVar(&cfg.Debug, "debug", false, "Enable debug-level logging for etcd.")
 	fs.StringVar(&cfg.LogPkgLevels, "log-package-levels", "", "Specify a particular log level for each etcd package (eg: 'etcdmain=CRITICAL,etcdserver=DEBUG').")
-	fs.StringVar(&cfg.logOutput, "log-output", "default", "Specify 'stdout' or 'stderr' to skip journald logging even when running under systemd.")
+	fs.StringVar(&cfg.LogOutput, "log-output", "default", "Specify 'stdout' or 'stderr' to skip journald logging even when running under systemd.")
 
 	// unsafe
 	fs.BoolVar(&cfg.ForceNewCluster, "force-new-cluster", false, "Force to create a new one member cluster.")
diff --git a/etcdmain/etcd.go b/etcdmain/etcd.go
index faff8378efc..47a8e563b8c 100644
--- a/etcdmain/etcd.go
+++ b/etcdmain/etcd.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 package etcdmain
 
 import (
-	"crypto/tls"
 	"encoding/json"
 	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
@@ -39,6 +38,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/pkg/types"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/proxy/httpproxy"
 	"github.com/coreos/etcd/version"
+
 	"github.com/coreos/pkg/capnslog"
 	"github.com/grpc-ecosystem/go-grpc-prometheus"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ func startEtcdOrProxyV2() {
 		}
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
-	setupLogging(cfg)
+	cfg.Config.SetupLogging()
 
 	var stopped <-chan struct{}
 	var errc <-chan error
@@ -387,41 +387,6 @@ func identifyDataDirOrDie(dir string) dirType {
 	return dirEmpty
 }
 
-func setupLogging(cfg *config) {
-	cfg.ClientTLSInfo.HandshakeFailure = func(conn *tls.Conn, err error) {
-		plog.Infof("rejected connection from %q (%v)", conn.RemoteAddr().String(), err)
-	}
-	cfg.PeerTLSInfo.HandshakeFailure = cfg.ClientTLSInfo.HandshakeFailure
-
-	capnslog.SetGlobalLogLevel(capnslog.INFO)
-	if cfg.Debug {
-		capnslog.SetGlobalLogLevel(capnslog.DEBUG)
-		grpc.EnableTracing = true
-	}
-	if cfg.LogPkgLevels != "" {
-		repoLog := capnslog.MustRepoLogger("github.com/coreos/etcd")
-		settings, err := repoLog.ParseLogLevelConfig(cfg.LogPkgLevels)
-		if err != nil {
-			plog.Warningf("couldn't parse log level string: %s, continuing with default levels", err.Error())
-			return
-		}
-		repoLog.SetLogLevel(settings)
-	}
-
-	// capnslog initially SetFormatter(NewDefaultFormatter(os.Stderr))
-	// where NewDefaultFormatter returns NewJournaldFormatter when syscall.Getppid() == 1
-	// specify 'stdout' or 'stderr' to skip journald logging even when running under systemd
-	switch cfg.logOutput {
-	case "stdout":
-		capnslog.SetFormatter(capnslog.NewPrettyFormatter(os.Stdout, cfg.Debug))
-	case "stderr":
-		capnslog.SetFormatter(capnslog.NewPrettyFormatter(os.Stderr, cfg.Debug))
-	case "default":
-	default:
-		plog.Panicf(`unknown log-output %q (only supports "default", "stdout", "stderr")`, cfg.logOutput)
-	}
-}
-
 func checkSupportArch() {
 	// TODO qualify arm64
 	if runtime.GOARCH == "amd64" || runtime.GOARCH == "ppc64le" {