diff --git a/jupyter_matlab_proxy/app.py b/jupyter_matlab_proxy/app.py
index b9b6c98a..854f46a6 100644
--- a/jupyter_matlab_proxy/app.py
+++ b/jupyter_matlab_proxy/app.py
@@ -28,7 +28,13 @@
     from .gui.static import js
     from .gui.static import media
 
-logging.basicConfig(level=logging.INFO)
+logLevel=logging.INFO
+if os.environ.get("LOG_LEVEL") is not None:
+    lvl = getattr(logging, os.environ.get("LOG_LEVEL"), logging.INFO)
+    if lvl is not None:
+        logLevel=lvl
+
+logging.basicConfig(level=logLevel)
 logger = logging.getLogger("MATLABProxyApp")
 
 # TODO It is bad practice to have global state in aiohttp applications, instead this