diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 381cfea80683f577c6fad4c12240259ddcf480b1..bfbde2f26884ba9cf924308e7e73331233a20794 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,10 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+### Changed
+
+* Turned color-coded logs off by default. This can be changed in the config.
+
 ## [1.2.6] - March 25th, 2021
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/cmd/media_repo/main.go b/cmd/media_repo/main.go
index e8fb11971efd34d5e6b40c8d48615c4a9fbdc3bf..2433e3c325536ac40f2a5ec8982c7f78f3b4f427 100644
--- a/cmd/media_repo/main.go
+++ b/cmd/media_repo/main.go
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ func main() {
 	assets.SetupTemplates(*templatesPath)
 	assets.SetupAssets(*assetsPath)
 
-	err := logging.Setup(config.Get().General.LogDirectory)
+	err := logging.Setup(config.Get().General.LogDirectory, config.Get().General.LogColors)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
diff --git a/common/config/conf_main.go b/common/config/conf_main.go
index df20ad2d7209111d34db33bfc142693ec6cb7906..e5537bc0c757c1f1e92b07fddfdc1081de6dcd39 100644
--- a/common/config/conf_main.go
+++ b/common/config/conf_main.go
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ func NewDefaultMainConfig() MainRepoConfig {
 			BindAddress:      "127.0.0.1",
 			Port:             8000,
 			LogDirectory:     "logs",
+			LogColors:        false,
 			TrustAnyForward:  false,
 			UseForwardedHost: true,
 		},
diff --git a/common/config/models_main.go b/common/config/models_main.go
index 8ef3d66739d2dcad042ba0b814445862d0b1c105..0690d1aa5718fb1251853c6c79cd308f3bb791a8 100644
--- a/common/config/models_main.go
+++ b/common/config/models_main.go
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ type GeneralConfig struct {
 	BindAddress      string `yaml:"bindAddress"`
 	Port             int    `yaml:"port"`
 	LogDirectory     string `yaml:"logDirectory"`
+	LogColors        bool   `yaml:"logColors"`
 	TrustAnyForward  bool   `yaml:"trustAnyForwardedAddress"`
 	UseForwardedHost bool   `yaml:"useForwardedHost"`
 }
diff --git a/common/logging/logger.go b/common/logging/logger.go
index 4ce3eaef36a85e482d626de994da4835607d18a3..bbd9533444df2e6ea5a1880cb59234445d7d7f98 100644
--- a/common/logging/logger.go
+++ b/common/logging/logger.go
@@ -19,13 +19,13 @@ func (f utcFormatter) Format(entry *logrus.Entry) ([]byte, error) {
 	return f.Formatter.Format(entry)
 }
 
-func Setup(dir string) error {
+func Setup(dir string, colors bool) error {
 	formatter := &utcFormatter{
 		&logrus.TextFormatter{
 			TimestampFormat:  "2006-01-02 15:04:05.000 Z07:00",
 			FullTimestamp:    true,
-			ForceColors:      true,
-			DisableColors:    false,
+			ForceColors:      colors,
+			DisableColors:    !colors,
 			DisableTimestamp: false,
 			QuoteEmptyFields: true,
 		},
diff --git a/config.sample.yaml b/config.sample.yaml
index db676e5f6516374bf0ad8f50efefb7ab836e2126..69d5bb21e14ba261a23c1d4259c2639a39674f48 100644
--- a/config.sample.yaml
+++ b/config.sample.yaml
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ repo:
   # live reloaded.
   logDirectory: logs
 
+  # Set to true to enable color coding in your logs. Note that this may cause escape sequences to
+  # appear in logs which render them unreadable, which is why colors are disabled by default.
+  logColors: false
+
   # If true, the media repo will accept any X-Forwarded-For header without validation. In most cases
   # this option should be left as "false". Note that the media repo already expects an X-Forwarded-For
   # header, but validates it to ensure the IP being given makes sense.