diff --git a/contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp b/contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp
index 205acccc..7487fdbd 100644
--- a/contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp
+++ b/contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp
@@ -33,8 +33,13 @@
 
 INITIALIZE_EASYLOGGINGPP
 
+#undef MONERO_DEFAULT_LOG_CATEGORY
+#define MONERO_DEFAULT_LOG_CATEGORY "logging"
+
 #define MLOG_BASE_FORMAT "%datetime{%Y-%M-%d %H:%m:%s.%g}\t%thread\t%level\t%logger\t%loc\t%msg"
 
+#define MLOG_LOG(x) CINFO(el::base::Writer,el::base::DispatchAction::FileOnlyLog,MONERO_DEFAULT_LOG_CATEGORY) << x
+
 using namespace epee;
 
 static std::string generate_log_filename(const char *base)
@@ -88,10 +93,10 @@ static const char *get_default_categories(int level)
   switch (level)
   {
     case 0:
-      categories = "*:WARNING,net:FATAL,net.p2p:FATAL,net.cn:FATAL,global:INFO,verify:FATAL,stacktrace:INFO";
+      categories = "*:WARNING,net:FATAL,net.p2p:FATAL,net.cn:FATAL,global:INFO,verify:FATAL,stacktrace:INFO,logging:INFO";
       break;
     case 1:
-      categories = "*:WARNING,global:INFO,stacktrace:INFO";
+      categories = "*:WARNING,global:INFO,stacktrace:INFO,logging:INFO";
       break;
     case 2:
       categories = "*:DEBUG";
@@ -142,7 +147,7 @@ void mlog_configure(const std::string &filename_base, bool console)
 void mlog_set_categories(const char *categories)
 {
   el::Loggers::setCategories(categories);
-  MGINFO("New log categories: " << categories);
+  MLOG_LOG("New log categories: " << categories);
 }
 
 // maps epee style log level to new logging system
@@ -150,7 +155,7 @@ void mlog_set_log_level(int level)
 {
   const char *categories = get_default_categories(level);
   el::Loggers::setCategories(categories);
-  MGINFO("New log categories: " << categories);
+  MLOG_LOG("New log categories: " << categories);
 }
 
 void mlog_set_log(const char *log)