diff --git a/packages/conf/DittoConf.ts b/packages/conf/DittoConf.ts
index 1420bdf5..05e7d19f 100644
--- a/packages/conf/DittoConf.ts
+++ b/packages/conf/DittoConf.ts
@@ -250,9 +250,15 @@ export class DittoConf {
     level: string;
     scopes: string[];
   } {
-    const [fmt = 'jsonl', level = 'debug', scopes = ''] = (this.env.get('LOG_CONFIG') || '').split(':').filter(Boolean);
+    let [fmt, level, scopes] = (this.env.get('LOG_CONFIG') || '').split(':');
+    fmt ||= 'jsonl';
+    level ||= 'debug';
+    scopes ||= '';
+
+    if (fmt !== 'jsonl' && fmt !== 'pretty') fmt = 'jsonl';
+
     return {
-      fmt: fmt === 'jsonl' ? fmt : 'pretty',
+      fmt: fmt as 'jsonl' | 'pretty',
       level,
       scopes: scopes.split(',').filter(Boolean),
     };
diff --git a/packages/ditto/utils/logi.ts b/packages/ditto/utils/logi.ts
index 4b764201..67217c7f 100644
--- a/packages/ditto/utils/logi.ts
+++ b/packages/ditto/utils/logi.ts
@@ -57,10 +57,11 @@ const pair = (key: string, value: LogiValue | undefined) => {
 
 export const createLogiHandler = (conf: DittoConf, defaultHandler: LogiHandler) => (log: LogiLog) => {
   const { fmt, level, scopes } = conf.logConfig;
-  if (fmt === 'jsonl') return defaultHandler(log);
   if (!isLevel(level)) throw new Error(`Invalid log level ${level} specified`);
   if (!lowerLevels[level].includes(log.level)) return;
   if (scopes.length && !scopes.some((scope) => scope.startsWith(log.ns))) return;
+  if (fmt === 'jsonl') return defaultHandler(log);
+
   const message = prettyPrint(log.message || log.msg || '');
   const remaining = Object.entries(log)
     .filter(([key]) => !['ns', 'level', 'message', 'msg'].includes(key));