diff --git a/src/main/ruby/jruby/rack/rails/rails_logger.rb b/src/main/ruby/jruby/rack/rails/rails_logger.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..524517fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/ruby/jruby/rack/rails/rails_logger.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+require 'active_support/logger_silence' unless defined?(ActiveSupport::LoggerSilence)
+
+module JRuby::Rack
+  class RailsLogger < JRuby::Rack::Logger
+    include ActiveSupport::LoggerSilence
+  end
+end
diff --git a/src/main/ruby/jruby/rack/rails/railtie.rb b/src/main/ruby/jruby/rack/rails/railtie.rb
index 1f57087b..173300db 100644
--- a/src/main/ruby/jruby/rack/rails/railtie.rb
+++ b/src/main/ruby/jruby/rack/rails/railtie.rb
@@ -32,16 +32,21 @@ class Railtie < ::Rails::Railtie
 
     initializer 'set_servlet_logger', :before => :initialize_logger do |app|
       app.config.logger ||= begin
-        logger = JRuby::Rack.logger
+        require 'jruby/rack/rails/rails_logger'
+        logger = JRuby::Rack::RailsLogger.new(JRuby::Rack.context)
         config = app.config
-        log_level = config.log_level || :info
-        logger.level = logger.class.const_get(log_level.to_s.upcase)
+        log_level = config.log_level
+        # NOTE: not much sense to set the level to a default (e.g. :info), esp. with Java logging backends
+        # one could also argue we should disable silencing
+        #
+        #   JRuby::Rack::RailsLogger.silencer = false
+        #
+        # although that would potentially only make sense when Java (jruby.rack.logging) backend is used.
+        logger.level = logger.class.const_get(log_level.to_s.upcase) if log_level
         log_formatter = config.log_formatter if config.respond_to?(:log_formatter)
         logger.formatter = log_formatter if log_formatter && logger.respond_to?(:formatter=)
         require 'active_support/tagged_logging' unless defined?(ActiveSupport::TaggedLogging)
-        logger = ActiveSupport::TaggedLogging.new(logger) # returns a logger.clone
-        logger.singleton_class.send(:include, ActiveSupport::LoggerSilence) if defined?(ActiveSupport::LoggerSilence)
-        logger
+        ActiveSupport::TaggedLogging.new(logger) # returns a logger.clone
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/src/spec/ruby/jruby/rack/rails_booter_spec.rb b/src/spec/ruby/jruby/rack/rails_booter_spec.rb
index ef6ffe91..30f39e3f 100644
--- a/src/spec/ruby/jruby/rack/rails_booter_spec.rb
+++ b/src/spec/ruby/jruby/rack/rails_booter_spec.rb
@@ -198,12 +198,9 @@ def logger=(logger); @logger = logger; end
       end
 
       it "gets set as config.logger (wrapped with tagged logging and logger_silence)" do
-        logger = JRuby::Rack::Logger.new STDERR
-        @config.stub(:log_level).and_return(:info)
+        @config.stub(:log_level).and_return(nil)
         @config.stub(:log_formatter).and_return(nil)
 
-        JRuby::Rack.should_receive(:logger).and_return(logger)
-
         log_initializer.last.call(@app)
         rails_logger = @app.config.logger
         # ActiveSupport::TaggedLogging.new clones the original logger instance
@@ -214,20 +211,22 @@ def logger=(logger); @logger = logger; end
           expect(rails_logger.silencer).to be true
           # sanity check silence works:
           value_returned = rails_logger.silence(Logger::WARN) { |logger| logger.class.name }
-          expect(value_returned).to eql('JRuby::Rack::Logger')
+          expect(value_returned).to eql('JRuby::Rack::RailsLogger')
         end
+        expect(rails_logger.level).to be(nil) # should not be set unless user configured `config.log_level`
       end
 
       it "has a configurable log level" do
-        @config.instance_eval do
-          def logger; @logger; end
-          def logger=(logger); @logger = logger; end
-        end
+        # @config.instance_eval do
+        #   def logger; @logger; end
+        #   def logger=(logger); @logger = logger; end
+        # end
         @config.stub(:log_formatter).and_return(nil)
         @config.should_receive(:log_level).and_return(:error)
 
-        log_initializer.last.call(@app) ##
-        @app.config.logger.level.should be(JRuby::Rack::Logger::ERROR)
+        log_initializer.last.call(@app)
+        rails_logger = @app.config.logger
+        expect(rails_logger.level).to be(JRuby::Rack::Logger::ERROR)
       end
 
       private