diff --git a/hotsos/core/config.py b/hotsos/core/config.py
index 236cc779a..9df4ba905 100644
--- a/hotsos/core/config.py
+++ b/hotsos/core/config.py
@@ -85,7 +85,8 @@ def __init__(self):
                            description='Version of hotsos being run.',
                            default_value=None, value_type=str))
         self.add(ConfigOpt(name='debug_mode',
-                           description='Set to True to enable debug logging',
+                           description='Set to True to enable debug logging '
+                                       'to standard output',
                            default_value=False, value_type=bool))
         self.add(ConfigOpt(name='plugin_yaml_defs',
                            description='Path to yaml-defined checks.',
diff --git a/hotsos/core/log.py b/hotsos/core/log.py
index 6a8ea7e53..95f5773e7 100644
--- a/hotsos/core/log.py
+++ b/hotsos/core/log.py
@@ -48,17 +48,11 @@ def setup_deps_loggers(self):
                 logger.removeHandler(logger.handlers[0])
 
             logger.addHandler(self._handler)
-            if HotSOSConfig.debug_mode:
-                level = HotSOSConfig.debug_log_levels.get(dep, 'WARNING')
-                logger.setLevel(level=level)
-
-    def start(self, level=None):
-        if level is None and HotSOSConfig.debug_mode:
-            level = logging.DEBUG
-
-        if level is not None:
-            log.setLevel(level)
+            level = HotSOSConfig.debug_log_levels.get(dep, 'WARNING')
+            logger.setLevel(level=level)
 
+    def start(self, level=logging.DEBUG):
+        log.setLevel(level)
         if log.hasHandlers():
             return
 
diff --git a/tests/unit/utils.py b/tests/unit/utils.py
index 6db4b948e..1d3efab74 100644
--- a/tests/unit/utils.py
+++ b/tests/unit/utils.py
@@ -424,9 +424,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
                               'plugin_tmp_dir': None,
                               'use_all_logs': True,
                               'machine_readable': True,
-                              'debug_mode': True,
-                              'debug_log_levels': {'propertree': 'WARNING',
-                                                   'searchkit': 'INFO'}}
+                              'debug_mode': True}
 
     def part_output_to_actual(self, output):
         actual = {}
@@ -450,6 +448,7 @@ def setUp(self):
         if os.environ.get('TESTS_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG', 'no') == 'yes':
             LoggingManager().start()
         else:
+            HotSOSConfig.debug_log_levels['searchkit'] = 'WARNING'
             LoggingManager().start(level=logging.WARNING)
 
     def _addDuration(self, *args, **kwargs):  # For Python >= 3.12