diff --git a/pkg/shared/logging.go b/pkg/shared/logging.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b774b18845
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkg/shared/logging.go
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+package shared
+
+import "github.com/opencloud-eu/opencloud/pkg/log"
+
+// Configure initializes a service-specific logger instance.
+func Configure(name string, commons *Commons, localServiceLogLevel string) log.Logger {
+	return log.NewLogger(
+		log.Name(name),
+		log.Level(localServiceLogLevel),
+		log.Pretty(commons.Log.Pretty),
+		log.Color(commons.Log.Color),
+		log.File(commons.Log.File),
+	)
+}
diff --git a/services/activitylog/pkg/command/server.go b/services/activitylog/pkg/command/server.go
index ec86ee9b4f..c7aed3e9bc 100644
--- a/services/activitylog/pkg/command/server.go
+++ b/services/activitylog/pkg/command/server.go
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/oklog/run"
+	"github.com/opencloud-eu/opencloud/pkg/shared"
 	"github.com/opencloud-eu/reva/v2/pkg/events"
 	"github.com/opencloud-eu/reva/v2/pkg/events/stream"
 	"github.com/opencloud-eu/reva/v2/pkg/rgrpc/todo/pool"
@@ -22,7 +23,6 @@ import (
 	settingssvc "github.com/opencloud-eu/opencloud/protogen/gen/opencloud/services/settings/v0"
 	"github.com/opencloud-eu/opencloud/services/activitylog/pkg/config"
 	"github.com/opencloud-eu/opencloud/services/activitylog/pkg/config/parser"
-	"github.com/opencloud-eu/opencloud/services/activitylog/pkg/logging"
 	"github.com/opencloud-eu/opencloud/services/activitylog/pkg/metrics"
 	"github.com/opencloud-eu/opencloud/services/activitylog/pkg/server/debug"
 	"github.com/opencloud-eu/opencloud/services/activitylog/pkg/server/http"
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func Server(cfg *config.Config) *cobra.Command {
 			return configlog.ReturnFatal(parser.ParseConfig(cfg))
 		},
 		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-			logger := logging.Configure(cfg.Service.Name, cfg.Log)
+			logger := shared.Configure(cfg.Service.Name, cfg.Commons, cfg.LogLevel)
 			tracerProvider, err := tracing.GetTraceProvider(cmd.Context(), cfg.Commons.TracesExporter, cfg.Service.Name)
 			if err != nil {
 				logger.Error().Err(err).Msg("Failed to initialize tracer")
diff --git a/services/activitylog/pkg/config/config.go b/services/activitylog/pkg/config/config.go
index d518bffcad..6497b1d900 100644
--- a/services/activitylog/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/services/activitylog/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ type Config struct {
 
 	Service Service `yaml:"-"`
 
-	Log   *Log  `yaml:"log"`
+	LogLevel string `mapstructure:"loglevel" env:"OC_LOG_LEVEL;ACTIVITYLOG_LOG_LEVEL" desc:"The log level. Valid values are: 'panic', 'fatal', 'error', 'warn', 'info', 'debug', 'trace'." introductionVersion:"1.0.0"`
+
 	Debug Debug `yaml:"debug"`
 
 	Events Events `yaml:"events"`
diff --git a/services/activitylog/pkg/config/defaults/defaultconfig.go b/services/activitylog/pkg/config/defaults/defaultconfig.go
index a6da0cf297..7265cd56eb 100644
--- a/services/activitylog/pkg/config/defaults/defaultconfig.go
+++ b/services/activitylog/pkg/config/defaults/defaultconfig.go
@@ -59,18 +59,9 @@ func DefaultConfig() *config.Config {
 
 // EnsureDefaults ensures the config contains default values
 func EnsureDefaults(cfg *config.Config) {
-	// provide with defaults for shared logging, since we need a valid destination address for "envdecode".
-	if cfg.Log == nil && cfg.Commons != nil && cfg.Commons.Log != nil {
-		cfg.Log = &config.Log{
-			Level:  cfg.Commons.Log.Level,
-			Pretty: cfg.Commons.Log.Pretty,
-			Color:  cfg.Commons.Log.Color,
-			File:   cfg.Commons.Log.File,
-		}
-	} else if cfg.Log == nil {
-		cfg.Log = &config.Log{}
+	if cfg.LogLevel == "" {
+		cfg.LogLevel = "error"
 	}
-
 	if cfg.GRPCClientTLS == nil && cfg.Commons != nil {
 		cfg.GRPCClientTLS = structs.CopyOrZeroValue(cfg.Commons.GRPCClientTLS)
 	}
diff --git a/services/activitylog/pkg/config/log.go b/services/activitylog/pkg/config/log.go
deleted file mode 100644
index cd5e4cb109..0000000000
--- a/services/activitylog/pkg/config/log.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-package config
-
-// Log defines the available log configuration.
-type Log struct {
-	Level  string `mapstructure:"level" env:"OC_LOG_LEVEL;ACTIVITYLOG_LOG_LEVEL" desc:"The log level. Valid values are: 'panic', 'fatal', 'error', 'warn', 'info', 'debug', 'trace'." introductionVersion:"1.0.0"`
-	Pretty bool   `mapstructure:"pretty" env:"OC_LOG_PRETTY;ACTIVITYLOG_LOG_PRETTY" desc:"Activates pretty log output." introductionVersion:"1.0.0"`
-	Color  bool   `mapstructure:"color" env:"OC_LOG_COLOR;ACTIVITYLOG_LOG_COLOR" desc:"Activates colorized log output." introductionVersion:"1.0.0"`
-	File   string `mapstructure:"file" env:"OC_LOG_FILE;ACTIVITYLOG_LOG_FILE" desc:"The path to the log file. Activates logging to this file if set." introductionVersion:"1.0.0"`
-}
diff --git a/services/activitylog/pkg/logging/logging.go b/services/activitylog/pkg/logging/logging.go
deleted file mode 100644
index 7994b741a4..0000000000
--- a/services/activitylog/pkg/logging/logging.go
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-package logging
-
-import (
-	"github.com/opencloud-eu/opencloud/pkg/log"
-	"github.com/opencloud-eu/opencloud/services/activitylog/pkg/config"
-)
-
-// Configure initializes a service-specific logger instance.
-func Configure(name string, cfg *config.Log) log.Logger {
-	return log.NewLogger(
-		log.Name(name),
-		log.Level(cfg.Level),
-		log.Pretty(cfg.Pretty),
-		log.Color(cfg.Color),
-		log.File(cfg.File),
-	)
-}