diff --git a/cli/main.go b/cli/main.go
index 99a4a890eb..ed3bcdf4d9 100644
--- a/cli/main.go
+++ b/cli/main.go
@@ -235,10 +235,6 @@ func beforeSubcommands(context *cli.Context) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("unknown log-format %q", context.GlobalString("log-format"))
 	}
 
-	setExternalLoggers(kataLog)
-
-	ignoreLogging := false
-
 	// Add the name of the sub-command to each log entry for easier
 	// debugging.
 	cmdName := context.Args().First()
@@ -246,6 +242,10 @@ func beforeSubcommands(context *cli.Context) error {
 		kataLog = kataLog.WithField("command", cmdName)
 	}
 
+	setExternalLoggers(kataLog)
+
+	ignoreLogging := false
+
 	if context.NArg() == 1 && context.Args()[0] == envCmd {
 		// simply report the logging setup
 		ignoreLogging = true