diff --git a/cli/common/flags.go b/cli/common/flags.go
index 9fbf469da..b58cfc6c1 100644
--- a/cli/common/flags.go
+++ b/cli/common/flags.go
@@ -47,6 +47,11 @@ var GlobalFlags = []cli.Flag{
 		Usage:   "socks proxy ignored",
 		Hidden:  true,
 	},
+	&cli.StringFlag{
+		EnvVars: []string{"WOODPECKER_LOG_LEVEL"},
+		Name:    "log-level",
+		Usage:   "set logging level",
+	},
 }
 
 // FormatFlag return format flag with value set based on template
diff --git a/cli/common/zerologger.go b/cli/common/zerologger.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a1763c014
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cli/common/zerologger.go
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+package common
+
+import (
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog"
+	"github.com/rs/zerolog/log"
+	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
+)
+
+func SetupConsoleLogger(c *cli.Context) error {
+	if c.IsSet("log-level") {
+		level := c.String("log-level")
+		lvl, err := zerolog.ParseLevel(level)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatal().Msgf("unknown logging level: %s", level)
+		}
+		zerolog.SetGlobalLevel(lvl)
+	}
+	if zerolog.GlobalLevel() <= zerolog.DebugLevel {
+		log.Logger = log.With().Caller().Logger()
+		log.Log().Msgf("LogLevel = %s", zerolog.GlobalLevel().String())
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/cmd/cli/main.go b/cmd/cli/main.go
index a2db51ff6..e23277723 100644
--- a/cmd/cli/main.go
+++ b/cmd/cli/main.go
@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ func main() {
 			Out: os.Stderr,
 		},
 	)
+	app.Before = common.SetupConsoleLogger
 
 	if err := app.Run(os.Args); err != nil {
 		zlog.Fatal().Err(err).Msg("error running cli")