diff --git a/cmd/sshpiperd/main.go b/cmd/sshpiperd/main.go
index f3a64854..02633f72 100644
--- a/cmd/sshpiperd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/sshpiperd/main.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"runtime/debug"
+	"slices"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/pires/go-proxyproto"
@@ -71,6 +72,11 @@ func createCmdPlugin(args []string) (*plugin.CmdPlugin, error) {
 	return p, nil
 }
 
+func isValidLogFormat(logFormat string) bool {
+	validFormats := []string{"text", "json"}
+	return slices.Contains(validFormats, logFormat)
+}
+
 func main() {
 
 	app := &cli.App{
@@ -124,6 +130,12 @@ func main() {
 				Usage:   "log level, one of: trace, debug, info, warn, error, fatal, panic",
 				EnvVars: []string{"SSHPIPERD_LOG_LEVEL"},
 			},
+			&cli.StringFlag{
+				Name:    "log-format",
+				Value:   "text",
+				Usage:   "log format, one of: text, json",
+				EnvVars: []string{"SSHPIPERD_LOG_FORMAT"},
+			},
 			&cli.StringFlag{
 				Name:    "typescript-log-dir",
 				Value:   "",
@@ -157,6 +169,14 @@ func main() {
 
 			log.SetLevel(level)
 
+			logFormat := ctx.String("log-format")
+			if !isValidLogFormat(logFormat) {
+				return fmt.Errorf("not a valid log-format: %v", logFormat)
+			}
+			if logFormat == "json" {
+				log.SetFormatter(&log.JSONFormatter{})
+			}
+
 			log.Info("starting sshpiperd version: ", version())
 			d, err := newDaemon(ctx)
 
diff --git a/libplugin/template.go b/libplugin/template.go
index e5477837..4b344d15 100644
--- a/libplugin/template.go
+++ b/libplugin/template.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
 )
 
@@ -11,6 +12,7 @@ type PluginTemplate struct {
 	Name         string
 	Usage        string
 	Flags        []cli.Flag
+	LogFormatter logrus.Formatter
 	CreateConfig func(c *cli.Context) (*SshPiperPluginConfig, error)
 }
 
@@ -42,7 +44,7 @@ func CreateAndRunPluginTemplate(t *PluginTemplate) {
 				return err
 			}
 
-			ConfigStdioLogrus(p, nil)
+			ConfigStdioLogrus(p, t.LogFormatter, nil)
 			return p.Serve()
 		},
 	}
diff --git a/libplugin/util.go b/libplugin/util.go
index c66b5709..7b2d02aa 100644
--- a/libplugin/util.go
+++ b/libplugin/util.go
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ func AuthMethodFromName(n string) AuthMethod {
 	return -1
 }
 
-func ConfigStdioLogrus(p SshPiperPlugin, logger *logrus.Logger) {
+func ConfigStdioLogrus(p SshPiperPlugin, formatter logrus.Formatter, logger *logrus.Logger) {
 	if logger == nil {
 		logger = logrus.StandardLogger()
 	}
@@ -50,7 +50,11 @@ func ConfigStdioLogrus(p SshPiperPlugin, logger *logrus.Logger) {
 		logger.SetLevel(lv)
 
 		if tty {
-			logger.SetFormatter(&logrus.TextFormatter{ForceColors: true})
+			if formatter != nil {
+				logger.SetFormatter(formatter)
+			} else {
+				logger.SetFormatter(&logrus.TextFormatter{ForceColors: true})
+			}
 		}
 	})
 }