diff --git a/harvester/cde_harvester/__main__.py b/harvester/cde_harvester/__main__.py
index 9ddea734..15d35b29 100644
--- a/harvester/cde_harvester/__main__.py
+++ b/harvester/cde_harvester/__main__.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 def setup_logging(log_time, log_level):
     # setup logging
     logging.basicConfig(
-        level=logging.DEBUG,
+        level=logging.getLevelName(log_level.upper()),
         format="%(asctime)s - %(name)s : %(message)s"
         if log_time
         else "%(name)s : %(message)s",