diff --git a/borg/remote.py b/borg/remote.py
index 1363d1707..1c02c08e6 100644
--- a/borg/remote.py
+++ b/borg/remote.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import errno
 import fcntl
+import logging
 import os
 import select
 import shlex
@@ -164,12 +165,13 @@ class RemoteRepository:
         opts = []
         if args is not None:
             opts.append('--umask=%03o' % args.umask)
-            if args.log_level == 'debug':
+            root_logger = logging.getLogger()
+            if root_logger.isEnabledFor(logging.DEBUG):
                 opts.append('--debug')
-            elif args.log_level == 'info':
+            elif root_logger.isEnabledFor(logging.INFO):
                 opts.append('--info')
-            elif args.log_level == 'warning':
-                pass  # is default
+            elif root_logger.isEnabledFor(logging.WARNING):
+                pass  # warning is default
             else:
                 raise ValueError('log level missing, fix this code')
         if testing:
diff --git a/borg/testsuite/repository.py b/borg/testsuite/repository.py
index 7b2874c57..7027cb59a 100644
--- a/borg/testsuite/repository.py
+++ b/borg/testsuite/repository.py
@@ -337,13 +337,11 @@ class RemoteRepositoryTestCase(RepositoryTestCase):
     def test_borg_cmd(self):
         class MockArgs:
             remote_path = 'borg'
-            log_level = 'warning'
             umask = 0o077
 
         assert self.repository.borg_cmd(None, testing=True) == [sys.executable, '-m', 'borg.archiver', 'serve' ]
         args = MockArgs()
-        assert self.repository.borg_cmd(args, testing=False) == ['borg', 'serve', '--umask=077']
-        args.log_level = 'info'
+        # note: test logger is on info log level, so --info gets added automagically
         assert self.repository.borg_cmd(args, testing=False) == ['borg', 'serve', '--umask=077', '--info']
         args.remote_path = 'borg-0.28.2'
         assert self.repository.borg_cmd(args, testing=False) == ['borg-0.28.2', 'serve', '--umask=077', '--info']