diff --git a/helix-term/src/config.rs b/helix-term/src/config.rs
index 13917656a231..4c5e0a175db0 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/config.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/config.rs
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@ use serde::Deserialize;
 use crate::keymap::Keymaps;
 
 #[derive(Debug, Default, Clone, PartialEq, Deserialize)]
+#[serde(rename_all = "kebab-case")]
 pub struct Config {
     pub theme: Option<String>,
+    pub log_file: Option<String>,
     #[serde(default)]
     pub lsp: LspConfig,
     #[serde(default)]
diff --git a/helix-term/src/main.rs b/helix-term/src/main.rs
index 180dacd1faf2..3f12dd175854 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/main.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/main.rs
@@ -35,12 +35,24 @@ fn setup_logging(logpath: PathBuf, verbosity: u64) -> Result<()> {
 
 #[tokio::main]
 async fn main() -> Result<()> {
-    let cache_dir = helix_core::cache_dir();
-    if !cache_dir.exists() {
-        std::fs::create_dir_all(&cache_dir).ok();
+    let conf_dir = helix_core::config_dir();
+    if !conf_dir.exists() {
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(&conf_dir).ok();
     }
 
-    let logpath = cache_dir.join("helix.log");
+    let config = match std::fs::read_to_string(conf_dir.join("config.toml")) {
+        Ok(config) => merge_keys(toml::from_str(&config)?),
+        Err(err) if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => Config::default(),
+        Err(err) => return Err(Error::new(err)),
+    };
+
+    let default_log_path = helix_core::cache_dir().join("helix.log");
+    let log_path = config
+        .log_file
+        .clone()
+        .map(PathBuf::from)
+        .unwrap_or(default_log_path);
+
     let help = format!(
         "\
 {} {}
@@ -56,14 +68,14 @@ ARGS:
 FLAGS:
     -h, --help       Prints help information
     -v               Increases logging verbosity each use for up to 3 times
-                     (default file: {})
+                     (file: {})
     -V, --version    Prints version information
 ",
         env!("CARGO_PKG_NAME"),
         env!("CARGO_PKG_VERSION"),
         env!("CARGO_PKG_AUTHORS"),
         env!("CARGO_PKG_DESCRIPTION"),
-        logpath.display(),
+        log_path.display(),
     );
 
     let args = Args::parse_args().context("could not parse arguments")?;
@@ -79,18 +91,12 @@ FLAGS:
         std::process::exit(0);
     }
 
-    let conf_dir = helix_core::config_dir();
-    if !conf_dir.exists() {
-        std::fs::create_dir_all(&conf_dir).ok();
-    }
-
-    let config = match std::fs::read_to_string(conf_dir.join("config.toml")) {
-        Ok(config) => merge_keys(toml::from_str(&config)?),
-        Err(err) if err.kind() == std::io::ErrorKind::NotFound => Config::default(),
-        Err(err) => return Err(Error::new(err)),
-    };
+    let log_dir = log_path.parent().unwrap();
 
-    setup_logging(logpath, args.verbosity).context("failed to initialize logging")?;
+    if !log_dir.exists() {
+        std::fs::create_dir_all(log_dir).ok();
+    }
+    setup_logging(log_path, args.verbosity).context("failed to initialize logging")?;
 
     // TODO: use the thread local executor to spawn the application task separately from the work pool
     let mut app = Application::new(args, config).context("unable to create new application")?;