diff --git a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/BUILD.bazel
index 299a80d83dc4..db9673827dd8 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/BUILD.bazel
@@ -51,9 +51,6 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/util/ctxgroup",
         "//pkg/util/httputil",
         "//pkg/util/leaktest",
-        "//pkg/util/log",
-        "//pkg/util/log/logconfig",
-        "//pkg/util/log/logpb",
         "//pkg/util/quotapool",
         "//pkg/util/randutil",
         "//pkg/util/stop",
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/run.go b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/run.go
index cde38acb5b42..a8aa6cc881be 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/roachtest/run.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/roachtest/run.go
@@ -29,9 +29,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/roachprod/logger"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/allstacks"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/leaktest"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/log"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/log/logconfig"
-	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/log/logpb"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/stop"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/timeutil"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
@@ -142,7 +139,8 @@ func runTests(register func(registry.Registry), filter *registry.TestFilter) err
 
 	roachprod.ClearClusterCache = roachtestflags.ClearClusterCache
 
-	setLogConfig(artifactsDir)
+	redirectLogger := redirectCRDBLogger(context.Background(), filepath.Join(artifactsDir, "roachtest.crdb.log"))
+	logger.InitCRDBLogConfig(redirectLogger)
 	runnerDir := filepath.Join(artifactsDir, runnerLogsDir)
 	runnerLogPath := filepath.Join(
 		runnerDir, fmt.Sprintf("test_runner-%d.log", timeutil.Now().Unix()))
@@ -213,20 +211,6 @@ func runTests(register func(registry.Registry), filter *registry.TestFilter) err
 	return err
 }
 
-// This diverts all the default non-fatal logging to a file in `baseDir`. This is particularly
-// useful in CI, where without this, stderr/stdout are cluttered with logs from various
-// packages used in roachtest like sarama and testutils.
-func setLogConfig(baseDir string) {
-	logConf := logconfig.DefaultStderrConfig()
-	logConf.Sinks.Stderr.Filter = logpb.Severity_FATAL
-	if err := logConf.Validate(&baseDir); err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-	if _, err := log.ApplyConfig(logConf, nil /* fileSinkMetricsForDir */, nil /* fatalOnLogStall */); err != nil {
-		panic(err)
-	}
-}
-
 // getUser takes the value passed on the command line and comes up with the
 // username to use.
 func getUser(userFlag string) string {
@@ -377,6 +361,17 @@ func testRunnerLogger(
 	return l, teeOpt
 }
 
+func redirectCRDBLogger(ctx context.Context, path string) *logger.Logger {
+	verboseCfg := logger.Config{}
+	var err error
+	l, err := verboseCfg.NewLogger(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+	shout(ctx, l, os.Stdout, "fallback runner logs in: %s", path)
+	return l
+}
+
 func maybeDumpSummaryMarkdown(r *testRunner) error {
 	if !roachtestflags.GitHubActions {
 		return nil