diff --git a/common/utils/LOG/log.c b/common/utils/LOG/log.c
index 91c97ac1ac..23aa075ca1 100644
--- a/common/utils/LOG/log.c
+++ b/common/utils/LOG/log.c
@@ -461,9 +461,15 @@ int register_log_component(const char *name, const char *fext, int compidx)
   }
 
   if (computed_compidx >= 0 && computed_compidx <MAX_LOG_COMPONENTS) {
-    g_log->log_component[computed_compidx].name = strdup(name);
-    g_log->log_component[computed_compidx].stream = stdout;
-    g_log->log_component[computed_compidx].filelog = 0;
+    log_component_t *c = &g_log->log_component[computed_compidx];
+    c->name = strdup(name);
+    int n = snprintf(c->headerName, sizeof(c->headerName), "[%s", c->name);
+    if (n >= sizeof(c->headerName) - 1) // snprintf() truncated
+      n = sizeof(c->headerName) - 2;
+    c->headerName[n] = ']';
+    c->headerName[n + 1] = 0;
+    c->stream = stdout;
+    c->filelog = 0;
     g_log->log_rarely_used[computed_compidx].filelog_name = calloc(1, strlen(name) + 16); /* /tmp/<name>.%s  */
     sprintf(g_log->log_rarely_used[computed_compidx].filelog_name, "/tmp/%s.", name);
     strncat(g_log->log_rarely_used[computed_compidx].filelog_name, fext, 3);
@@ -509,12 +515,15 @@ int logInit (void)
   for (int i = 0; i < MAX_LOG_PREDEF_COMPONENTS; i++)
     register_log_component(comp_name[i], comp_extension[i], i);
 
-  for (int i=0 ; log_level_names[i].name != NULL ; i++)
-    g_log->level2string[i] = toupper(log_level_names[i].name[0]); // uppercased first letter of level name
-  
   g_log->filelog_name = "/tmp/openair.log";
   log_getconfig(g_log);
 
+  for (int i = 0; log_level_names[i].name != NULL; i++)
+    if (g_log->flag & FLAG_LEVEL)
+      snprintf(g_log->level2string[i], sizeof g_log->level2string[i], " %c ", toupper(log_level_names[i].name[0]));
+    else
+      snprintf(g_log->level2string[i], sizeof g_log->level2string[i], " ");
+
   // set all unused component items to 0, they are for non predefined components
   for (int i=MAX_LOG_PREDEF_COMPONENTS; i < MAX_LOG_COMPONENTS; i++) {
     memset(&(g_log->log_component[i]),0,sizeof(log_component_t));
@@ -575,8 +584,7 @@ static inline int log_header(log_component_t *c,
       struct tm utc_time;
       if (gmtime_r(&t.tv_sec, &utc_time) == NULL)
         abort();
-      snprintf(timeString, sizeof(timeString), "%04d-%02d-%02d %02d:%02d:%02d.%06lu UTC ",
-               utc_time.tm_year + 1900, utc_time.tm_mon + 1, utc_time.tm_mday,
+      snprintf(timeString, sizeof(timeString), "[%02d:%02d:%02d.%06lu] ",
                utc_time.tm_hour, utc_time.tm_min, utc_time.tm_sec, t.tv_nsec / 1000);
     } else {
       snprintf(timeString, sizeof(timeString), "%lu.%06lu ",
@@ -593,15 +601,18 @@ static inline int log_header(log_component_t *c,
   } else {
     threadIdString[0] = 0;
   }
-  return snprintf(log_buffer, buffsize, "%s%s%s[%s] %c %s%s",
-		   flag & FLAG_NOCOLOR ? "" : log_level_highlight_start[level],
-		   timeString,
-		   threadIdString,
-		   c->name,
-		   flag & FLAG_LEVEL ? g_log->level2string[level] : ' ',
-		   l,
-		   threadname
-		   );
+
+  return snprintf(log_buffer,
+                  buffsize,
+                  "%s%s%s%-8s%s%-*s%s",
+                  flag & FLAG_NOCOLOR ? "" : log_level_highlight_start[level],
+                  timeString,
+                  threadIdString,
+                  c->headerName,
+                  g_log->level2string[level], // will print space if no level selected
+                  l[0] == 0 ? 0 : 32,
+                  l,
+                  threadname);
 }
 
 void logRecord_mt(const char *file,
diff --git a/common/utils/LOG/log.h b/common/utils/LOG/log.h
index c873b0d418..312f2c9510 100644
--- a/common/utils/LOG/log.h
+++ b/common/utils/LOG/log.h
@@ -206,6 +206,7 @@ typedef struct {
 
 typedef struct  {
   const char        *name;
+  char headerName[19];
   int level;
   int filelog;
   FILE              *stream;
@@ -217,7 +218,7 @@ typedef struct  {
 typedef struct {
   log_component_t         log_component[MAX_LOG_COMPONENTS];
   log_component_back_t log_rarely_used[MAX_LOG_COMPONENTS];
-  char                    level2string[NUM_LOG_LEVEL];
+  char level2string[NUM_LOG_LEVEL][4];
   int                     flag;
   char                   *filelog_name;
   debug_flags_t debug_mask;