diff --git a/libcontainerd/supervisor/remote_daemon.go b/libcontainerd/supervisor/remote_daemon.go
index 1febf310b7393..1d80e06feca2d 100644
--- a/libcontainerd/supervisor/remote_daemon.go
+++ b/libcontainerd/supervisor/remote_daemon.go
@@ -47,10 +47,6 @@ type remote struct {
 	daemonWaitCh  chan struct{}
 	daemonStartCh chan error
 	daemonStopCh  chan struct{}
-
-	// logLevel overrides the containerd logging-level through the --log-level
-	// command-line option.
-	logLevel string
 }
 
 // Daemon represents a running containerd daemon
@@ -159,13 +155,8 @@ func (r *remote) startContainerd() error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	args := []string{"--config", cfgFile}
-
-	if r.logLevel != "" {
-		args = append(args, "--log-level", r.logLevel)
-	}
 
-	cmd := exec.Command(binaryName, args...)
+	cmd := exec.Command(binaryName, "--config", cfgFile)
 	// redirect containerd logs to docker logs
 	cmd.Stdout = os.Stdout
 	cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr
diff --git a/libcontainerd/supervisor/remote_daemon_options.go b/libcontainerd/supervisor/remote_daemon_options.go
index afd7874201508..6ad2b79fea6bc 100644
--- a/libcontainerd/supervisor/remote_daemon_options.go
+++ b/libcontainerd/supervisor/remote_daemon_options.go
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ func WithLogLevel(lvl string) DaemonOpt {
 			// so don't pass the default.
 			lvl = ""
 		}
-		r.logLevel = lvl
+		r.Config.Debug.Level = lvl
 		return nil
 	}
 }