diff --git a/CHANGELOG-developer.next.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG-developer.next.asciidoc
index b89bd78fbbbb..4e8e09eb5ffa 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG-developer.next.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG-developer.next.asciidoc
@@ -87,3 +87,4 @@ The list below covers the major changes between 7.0.0-rc2 and master only.
 - Add fields validation for histogram subfields. {pull}17759[17759]
 - Add IP* fields to `fields.yml` generator script in Filebeat. {issue}17998[17998] {pull}18256[18256]
 - Events intended for the Elasticsearch output can now take an `op_type` metadata field of type events.OpType or string to indicate the `op_type` to use for bulk indexing. {pull}12606[12606]
+- Add `ECSEnabled()` method to logger instances. {pull}18820[18820]
diff --git a/libbeat/logp/configure/logging_test.go b/libbeat/logp/configure/logging_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..7054c84c94c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libbeat/logp/configure/logging_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+// Licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one or more contributor
+// license agreements. See the NOTICE file distributed with
+// this work for additional information regarding copyright
+// ownership. Elasticsearch B.V. licenses this file to you under
+// the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
+// not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+// software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+// "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+// KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+// specific language governing permissions and limitations
+// under the License.
+
+package configure
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+
+	"github.com/elastic/beats/v7/libbeat/common"
+	"github.com/elastic/beats/v7/libbeat/logp"
+)
+
+func TestECSEnabled(t *testing.T) {
+	logger := logp.NewLogger("noECS")
+	assert.False(t, logger.ECSEnabled())
+
+	Logging("mockbeat", common.MustNewConfigFrom(`{"ecs":true}`))
+	logger = logp.NewLogger("withECS")
+	assert.True(t, logger.ECSEnabled())
+}
diff --git a/libbeat/logp/core.go b/libbeat/logp/core.go
index e5a4f94e8ee8..08f3b9c894d4 100644
--- a/libbeat/logp/core.go
+++ b/libbeat/logp/core.go
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ func init() {
 		selectors:    map[string]struct{}{},
 		rootLogger:   zap.NewNop(),
 		globalLogger: zap.NewNop(),
-		logger:       newLogger(zap.NewNop(), ""),
+		logger:       newLogger(zap.NewNop(), "", false), //ecsEnabled=false reflects default config
 	})
 }
 
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ func Configure(cfg Config) error {
 		selectors:    selectors,
 		rootLogger:   root,
 		globalLogger: root.WithOptions(zap.AddCallerSkip(1)),
-		logger:       newLogger(root, ""),
+		logger:       newLogger(root, "", cfg.ECSEnabled),
 		observedLogs: observedLogs,
 	})
 	return nil
diff --git a/libbeat/logp/logger.go b/libbeat/logp/logger.go
index b776a6166f3c..309c8e9ca808 100644
--- a/libbeat/logp/logger.go
+++ b/libbeat/logp/logger.go
@@ -29,16 +29,17 @@ type LogOption = zap.Option
 
 // Logger logs messages to the configured output.
 type Logger struct {
-	logger *zap.Logger
-	sugar  *zap.SugaredLogger
+	logger     *zap.Logger
+	sugar      *zap.SugaredLogger
+	ecsEnabled bool
 }
 
-func newLogger(rootLogger *zap.Logger, selector string, options ...LogOption) *Logger {
+func newLogger(rootLogger *zap.Logger, selector string, ecsEnabled bool, options ...LogOption) *Logger {
 	log := rootLogger.
 		WithOptions(zap.AddCallerSkip(1)).
 		WithOptions(options...).
 		Named(selector)
-	return &Logger{log, log.Sugar()}
+	return &Logger{log, log.Sugar(), ecsEnabled}
 }
 
 // NewLogger returns a new Logger labeled with the name of the selector. This
@@ -47,21 +48,22 @@ func newLogger(rootLogger *zap.Logger, selector string, options ...LogOption) *L
 // Instead create new Logger instance that your object reuses. Or if you need to
 // log from a static context then you may use logp.L().Infow(), for example.
 func NewLogger(selector string, options ...LogOption) *Logger {
-	return newLogger(loadLogger().rootLogger, selector, options...)
+	coreLogger := loadLogger()
+	return newLogger(coreLogger.rootLogger, selector, coreLogger.logger.ecsEnabled, options...)
 }
 
 // With creates a child logger and adds structured context to it. Fields added
 // to the child don't affect the parent, and vice versa.
 func (l *Logger) With(args ...interface{}) *Logger {
 	sugar := l.sugar.With(args...)
-	return &Logger{sugar.Desugar(), sugar}
+	return &Logger{sugar.Desugar(), sugar, l.ecsEnabled}
 }
 
 // Named adds a new path segment to the logger's name. Segments are joined by
 // periods.
 func (l *Logger) Named(name string) *Logger {
 	logger := l.logger.Named(name)
-	return &Logger{logger, logger.Sugar()}
+	return &Logger{logger, logger.Sugar(), l.ecsEnabled}
 }
 
 // Sprint
@@ -213,6 +215,13 @@ func (l *Logger) Recover(msg string) {
 	}
 }
 
+// ECSEnabled returns whether or not logging should be ECS conformant.
+// Switching to ECS can mean a breaking change for the log format.
+// This information is helpful until all logs are switched to ECS by default.
+func (l *Logger) ECSEnabled() bool {
+	return l.ecsEnabled
+}
+
 // L returns an unnamed global logger.
 func L() *Logger {
 	return loadLogger().logger