diff --git a/cli/util/hello.go b/cli/util/hello.go
index 002a3a14..d4734805 100644
--- a/cli/util/hello.go
+++ b/cli/util/hello.go
@@ -31,25 +31,12 @@ package util
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"log"
-	"os"
 	"time"
 )
 
 // Hello is a simple helper function to print a hello message and time.
 func Hello(program, version string, flags Flags) {
 	var start = time.Now().UnixNano()
-
-	// TODO: Move these log package initialization steps to the top main.go?
-	logFlags := log.LstdFlags
-	if flags.Debug {
-		logFlags = logFlags + log.Lshortfile
-	}
-	logFlags = logFlags - log.Ldate // remove the date for now
-	log.SetFlags(logFlags)
-
-	log.SetOutput(os.Stderr)
-
 	if program == "" {
 		program = "<unknown>"
 	}
diff --git a/cli/util/util.go b/cli/util/util.go
index 0bd5bcfb..8cd92521 100644
--- a/cli/util/util.go
+++ b/cli/util/util.go
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@
 package util
 
 import (
+	"log"
+	"os"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/purpleidea/mgmt/util/errwrap"
@@ -81,3 +83,16 @@ func SafeProgram(program string) string {
 	//}
 	return program
 }
+
+// LogSetup changes some of the core logger package settings.
+func LogSetup(debug bool) {
+	// TODO: Move these log package initialization steps to the top main.go?
+	logFlags := log.LstdFlags
+	if debug {
+		logFlags = logFlags + log.Lshortfile
+	}
+	logFlags = logFlags - log.Ldate // remove the date for now
+	log.SetFlags(logFlags)
+
+	log.SetOutput(os.Stderr)
+}
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index fd2f6cba..71483dee 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -74,6 +74,7 @@ func main() {
 		return              // for safety
 	}
 
+	cliUtil.LogSetup(debug)
 	data := &cliUtil.Data{
 		Program: program,
 		Version: version,