diff --git a/daemon/rtpengine.pod b/daemon/rtpengine.pod
index 0b27b6fb9..d392f8ad7 100644
--- a/daemon/rtpengine.pod
+++ b/daemon/rtpengine.pod
@@ -301,6 +301,13 @@ Only useful in combination with B<--foreground>.
 Split multi-line log messages into individual log messages so that each
 line receives its own log line prefix.
 
+=item B<--max-log-line-length=>I<INT>
+
+Split log lines into multiple lines when they exceed the character count given
+here. Can be set to a negative value to allow unlimited length log lines. Set
+to zero for the default value, which is unlimited if logging to stderr, or 500
+if logging to syslog.
+
 =item B<--no-log-timestamps>
 
 Don't add timestamps to log lines written to stderr.
diff --git a/lib/auxlib.c b/lib/auxlib.c
index cf9318912..24902504d 100644
--- a/lib/auxlib.c
+++ b/lib/auxlib.c
@@ -153,6 +153,7 @@ void config_load(int *argc, char ***argv, GOptionEntry *app_entries, const char
 #include "loglevels.h"
 		{ "log-stderr",		'E', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,	&rtpe_common_config_ptr->log_stderr,	"Log on stderr instead of syslog",	NULL		},
 		{ "split-logs",		0, 0,	G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,	&rtpe_common_config_ptr->split_logs,	"Split multi-line log messages",	NULL		},
+		{ "max-log-line-length",0,   0,	G_OPTION_ARG_INT,	&rtpe_common_config_ptr->max_log_line_length,	"Break log lines at this length","INT"		},
 		{ "no-log-timestamps",	0,   0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE,	&rtpe_common_config_ptr->no_log_timestamps,"Drop timestamps from log lines to stderr",NULL	},
 		{ "log-mark-prefix",	0,   0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&rtpe_common_config_ptr->log_mark_prefix,"Prefix for sensitive log info",	NULL		},
 		{ "log-mark-suffix",	0,   0, G_OPTION_ARG_STRING,	&rtpe_common_config_ptr->log_mark_suffix,"Suffix for sensitive log info",	NULL		},
@@ -323,10 +324,13 @@ out:
 			rtpe_common_config_ptr->log_levels[i] = rtpe_common_config_ptr->default_log_level;
 	}
 
-	if (rtpe_common_config_ptr->log_stderr) {
+	if (rtpe_common_config_ptr->log_stderr)
 		write_log = log_to_stderr;
-		max_log_line_length = 0;
-	}
+	else if (rtpe_common_config_ptr->max_log_line_length == 0)
+		rtpe_common_config_ptr->max_log_line_length = 500;
+
+	if (rtpe_common_config_ptr->max_log_line_length < 0)
+		rtpe_common_config_ptr->max_log_line_length = 0;
 
 	if (rtpe_common_config_ptr->thread_stack == 0)
 		rtpe_common_config_ptr->thread_stack = 2048;
diff --git a/lib/auxlib.h b/lib/auxlib.h
index 6d1b72bec..af8e48394 100644
--- a/lib/auxlib.h
+++ b/lib/auxlib.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ struct rtpengine_common_config {
 	char *pidfile;
 	int foreground;
 	int thread_stack;
+	int max_log_line_length;
 };
 
 extern struct rtpengine_common_config *rtpe_common_config_ptr;
diff --git a/lib/loglib.c b/lib/loglib.c
index c83fc61e5..d251ff2dd 100644
--- a/lib/loglib.c
+++ b/lib/loglib.c
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ void __vpilog(int prio, const char *prefix, const char *fmt, va_list ap) {
 	piece = msg;
 
 	while (1) {
-		unsigned int max_line_len = max_log_line_length;
+		unsigned int max_line_len = rtpe_common_config_ptr->max_log_line_length;
 		unsigned int skip_len = max_line_len;
 		if (rtpe_common_config_ptr->split_logs) {
 			char *newline = strchr(piece, '\n');
diff --git a/lib/loglib.h b/lib/loglib.h
index 463e6732c..26db30198 100644
--- a/lib/loglib.h
+++ b/lib/loglib.h
@@ -19,8 +19,6 @@
 
 extern int ilog_facility;
 
-extern unsigned int max_log_line_length;
-
 extern int get_local_log_level(unsigned int);