diff --git a/cmd/notary-server/config.json b/cmd/notary-server/config.json
index 42345fe96b..9c41206a35 100644
--- a/cmd/notary-server/config.json
+++ b/cmd/notary-server/config.json
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 	  "port": "7899",
 	  "tls_ca_file": "./fixtures/root-ca.crt"			},
 	"logging": {
-		"level": 5
+		"level": "debug"
 	},
 	"storage": {
 		"backend": "mysql",
diff --git a/cmd/notary-server/dev-config.json b/cmd/notary-server/dev-config.json
index b00d95f2be..7026357e69 100644
--- a/cmd/notary-server/dev-config.json
+++ b/cmd/notary-server/dev-config.json
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 		"port": ""
 	},
 	"logging": {
-		"level": 5
+		"level": "debug"
 	},
 	"storage": {
 		"backend": "mysql",
diff --git a/cmd/notary-server/main.go b/cmd/notary-server/main.go
index b2bca8ac23..219005ea09 100644
--- a/cmd/notary-server/main.go
+++ b/cmd/notary-server/main.go
@@ -64,7 +64,12 @@ func main() {
 		logrus.Error("Could not read config at ", configFile)
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
-	logrus.SetLevel(logrus.Level(viper.GetInt("logging.level")))
+	lvl, err := logrus.ParseLevel(viper.GetString("logging.level"))
+	if err != nil {
+		lvl = logrus.ErrorLevel
+		logrus.Error("Could not parse log level from config. Defaulting to ErrorLevel")
+	}
+	logrus.SetLevel(lvl)
 
 	sigHup := make(chan os.Signal)
 	sigTerm := make(chan os.Signal)