diff --git a/libbeat/logp/config.go b/libbeat/logp/config.go
index be384fe48aca..3c2f2cde381b 100644
--- a/libbeat/logp/config.go
+++ b/libbeat/logp/config.go
@@ -62,8 +62,7 @@ const defaultLevel = InfoLevel
 // Beat is supposed to be run within.
 func DefaultConfig(environment Environment) Config {
 	return Config{
-		Level:   defaultLevel,
-		ToFiles: true,
+		Level: defaultLevel,
 		Files: FileConfig{
 			MaxSize:         10 * 1024 * 1024,
 			MaxBackups:      7,
diff --git a/x-pack/elastic-agent/pkg/core/logger/logger.go b/x-pack/elastic-agent/pkg/core/logger/logger.go
index 583d91ac48c6..6169022fea6c 100644
--- a/x-pack/elastic-agent/pkg/core/logger/logger.go
+++ b/x-pack/elastic-agent/pkg/core/logger/logger.go
@@ -55,17 +55,19 @@ func new(name string, cfg *Config) (*Logger, error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	var outputs []zapcore.Core
 	if cfg.ToFiles {
 		internal, err := makeInternalFileOutput(cfg)
 		if err != nil {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 
-		if err := configure.LoggingWithOutputs("", commonCfg, internal); err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("error initializing logging: %v", err)
-		}
+		outputs = append(outputs, internal)
 	}
 
+	if err := configure.LoggingWithOutputs("", commonCfg, outputs...); err != nil {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error initializing logging: %v", err)
+	}
 	return logp.NewLogger(name), nil
 }
 
@@ -92,6 +94,7 @@ func DefaultLoggingConfig() *Config {
 	cfg := logp.DefaultConfig(logp.DefaultEnvironment)
 	cfg.Beat = agentName
 	cfg.Level = logp.InfoLevel
+	cfg.ToFiles = true
 	cfg.Files.Path = paths.Logs()
 	cfg.Files.Name = fmt.Sprintf("%s.log", agentName)