diff --git a/include/linux/printk.h b/include/linux/printk.h
index afe8ccec1672..3472cc6b7a60 100644
--- a/include/linux/printk.h
+++ b/include/linux/printk.h
@@ -50,10 +50,15 @@ static inline const char *printk_skip_headers(const char *buffer)
 #define CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL_SILENT  0 /* Mum's the word */
 #define CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL_MIN	 1 /* Minimum loglevel we let people use */
 #define CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL_QUIET	 4 /* Shhh ..., when booted with "quiet" */
-#define CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL_DEFAULT 7 /* anything MORE serious than KERN_DEBUG */
 #define CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL_DEBUG	10 /* issue debug messages */
 #define CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL_MOTORMOUTH 15	/* You can't shut this one up */
 
+/*
+ * Default used to be hard-coded at 7, we're now allowing it to be set from
+ * kernel config.
+ */
+#define CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL_DEFAULT CONFIG_CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL_DEFAULT
+
 extern int console_printk[];
 
 #define console_loglevel (console_printk[0])
diff --git a/lib/Kconfig.debug b/lib/Kconfig.debug
index 9bb7d825ba14..65a619e0ad5d 100644
--- a/lib/Kconfig.debug
+++ b/lib/Kconfig.debug
@@ -15,6 +15,21 @@ config PRINTK_TIME
 	  The behavior is also controlled by the kernel command line
 	  parameter printk.time=1. See Documentation/kernel-parameters.txt
 
+config CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL_DEFAULT
+	int "Default console loglevel (1-15)"
+	range 1 15
+	default "7"
+	help
+	  Default loglevel to determine what will be printed on the console.
+
+	  Setting a default here is equivalent to passing in loglevel=<x> in
+	  the kernel bootargs. loglevel=<x> continues to override whatever
+	  value is specified here as well.
+
+	  Note: This does not affect the log level of un-prefixed prink()
+	  usage in the kernel. That is controlled by the MESSAGE_LOGLEVEL_DEFAULT
+	  option.
+
 config MESSAGE_LOGLEVEL_DEFAULT
 	int "Default message log level (1-7)"
 	range 1 7
@@ -26,6 +41,10 @@ config MESSAGE_LOGLEVEL_DEFAULT
 	  that are auditing their logs closely may want to set it to a lower
 	  priority.
 
+	  Note: This does not affect what message level gets printed on the console
+	  by default. To change that, use loglevel=<x> in the kernel bootargs,
+	  or pick a different CONSOLE_LOGLEVEL_DEFAULT configuration value.
+
 config BOOT_PRINTK_DELAY
 	bool "Delay each boot printk message by N milliseconds"
 	depends on DEBUG_KERNEL && PRINTK && GENERIC_CALIBRATE_DELAY