diff --git a/cmd/registry/config.yml b/cmd/registry/config.yml
index bb3ade118..a73644f0c 100644
--- a/cmd/registry/config.yml
+++ b/cmd/registry/config.yml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 version: 0.1
-loglevel: debug
+log:
+  level: debug
 storage:
     filesystem:
         rootdirectory: /tmp/registry-dev
diff --git a/cmd/registry/main.go b/cmd/registry/main.go
index 6c4428950..eb71267e9 100644
--- a/cmd/registry/main.go
+++ b/cmd/registry/main.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 
 	log "github.com/Sirupsen/logrus"
+	"github.com/Sirupsen/logrus/formatters/logstash"
 	"github.com/bugsnag/bugsnag-go"
 	"github.com/docker/distribution/configuration"
 	ctxu "github.com/docker/distribution/context"
@@ -49,7 +50,10 @@ func main() {
 		fatalf("configuration error: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	log.SetLevel(logLevel(config.Loglevel))
+	if err := configureLogging(config); err != nil {
+		fatalf("error configuring logger: %v", err)
+	}
+
 	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, "version", version.Version)
 	ctx = ctxu.WithLogger(ctx, ctxu.GetLogger(ctx, "version"))
 
@@ -111,16 +115,6 @@ func resolveConfiguration() (*configuration.Configuration, error) {
 	return config, nil
 }
 
-func logLevel(level configuration.Loglevel) log.Level {
-	l, err := log.ParseLevel(string(level))
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Warnf("error parsing level %q: %v", level, err)
-		l = log.InfoLevel
-	}
-
-	return l
-}
-
 func configureReporting(app *handlers.App) http.Handler {
 	var handler http.Handler = app
 
@@ -157,6 +151,48 @@ func configureReporting(app *handlers.App) http.Handler {
 	return handler
 }
 
+// configureLogging the default logger using the configuration. Must be called
+// before creating any contextual loggers.
+func configureLogging(config *configuration.Configuration) error {
+	if config.Log.Level == "" && config.Log.Formatter == "" {
+		// If no config for logging is set, fallback to deprecated "Loglevel".
+		log.SetLevel(logLevel(config.Loglevel))
+		return nil
+	}
+
+	log.SetLevel(logLevel(config.Log.Level))
+
+	switch config.Log.Formatter {
+	case "json":
+		log.SetFormatter(&log.JSONFormatter{})
+	case "text":
+		log.SetFormatter(&log.TextFormatter{})
+	case "logstash":
+		log.SetFormatter(&logstash.LogstashFormatter{Type: "registry"})
+	default:
+		// just let the library use default on empty string.
+		if config.Log.Formatter != "" {
+			return fmt.Errorf("unsupported logging formatter: %q", config.Log.Formatter)
+		}
+	}
+
+	if config.Log.Formatter != "" {
+		log.Debugf("using %q logging formatter", config.Log.Formatter)
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+func logLevel(level configuration.Loglevel) log.Level {
+	l, err := log.ParseLevel(string(level))
+	if err != nil {
+		l = log.InfoLevel
+		log.Warnf("error parsing level %q: %v, using %q	", level, err, l)
+	}
+
+	return l
+}
+
 // debugServer starts the debug server with pprof, expvar among other
 // endpoints. The addr should not be exposed externally. For most of these to
 // work, tls cannot be enabled on the endpoint, so it is generally separate.
diff --git a/configuration/configuration.go b/configuration/configuration.go
index 6c03b27fa..c5bb035fe 100644
--- a/configuration/configuration.go
+++ b/configuration/configuration.go
@@ -16,7 +16,19 @@ type Configuration struct {
 	// Version is the version which defines the format of the rest of the configuration
 	Version Version `yaml:"version"`
 
-	// Loglevel is the level at which registry operations are logged
+	// Log supports setting various parameters related to the logging
+	// subsystem.
+	Log struct {
+		// Level is the granularity at which registry operations are logged.
+		Level Loglevel `yaml:"level"`
+
+		// Formatter overrides the default formatter with another. Options
+		// include "text", "json" and "logstash".
+		Formatter string `yaml:"formatter"`
+	}
+
+	// Loglevel is the level at which registry operations are logged. This is
+	// deprecated. Please use Log.Level in the future.
 	Loglevel Loglevel `yaml:"loglevel"`
 
 	// Storage is the configuration for the registry's storage driver
diff --git a/doc/configuration.md b/doc/configuration.md
index 9441116b0..32c28c583 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.md
+++ b/doc/configuration.md
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@ Below is a comprehensive example of all possible configuration options for the r
 
 ```yaml
 version: 0.1
-loglevel: debug
+log:
+	level: debug
+	formatter: text
+loglevel: debug # deprecated: use "log"
 storage:
 	filesystem:
 		rootdirectory: /tmp/registry
@@ -87,18 +90,34 @@ The version option is **required** and indicates the version of the configuratio
 
 N.B. The version of the registry software may be found at [/version/version.go](https://github.com/docker/distribution/blob/master/version/version.go)
 
+## log
+
+The log subsection configures the behavior of the logging system. The logging
+system outputs everything to stdout. The granularity and format of the log
+messages can be adjusted with this configuration section.
+
+```yaml
+log:
+	level: debug
+	formatter: text
+```
+
+- level: **Optional** - Sets the sensitivity of logging output. Permitted
+  values are `error`, `warn`, `info` and `debug`. The default is `info`.
+- formatter: **Optional** - This selects the format of logging output, which
+  mostly affects how keyed attributes for a log line are encoded. Options are
+  "text", "json" or "logstash". The default is "text".
+
 ## loglevel
 
+> **DEPRECATED:** Please use [log](#log) instead.
+
 ```yaml
 loglevel: debug
 ```
 
-The loglevel option is **required** and sets the sensitivity of logging output. Permitted values are:
-
-- ```error```
-- ```warn```
-- ```info```
-- ```debug```
+Permitted values are `error`, `warn`, `info` and `debug`. The default is
+`info`.
 
 ## storage