diff --git a/command/agent/agent.go b/command/agent/agent.go
index b9ecbd0f4..ec4d356ca 100644
--- a/command/agent/agent.go
+++ b/command/agent/agent.go
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ type Agent struct {
 }
 
 // NewAgent is used to create a new agent with the given configuration
-func NewAgent(config *Config, logOutput io.Writer, inmem *metrics.InmemSink) (*Agent, error) {
+func NewAgent(config *Config, logger log.Logger, logOutput io.Writer, inmem *metrics.InmemSink) (*Agent, error) {
 	a := &Agent{
 		config:     config,
 		logOutput:  logOutput,
@@ -96,12 +96,7 @@ func NewAgent(config *Config, logOutput io.Writer, inmem *metrics.InmemSink) (*A
 	}
 
 	// Create the loggers
-	a.logger = log.New(&log.LoggerOptions{
-		Name:       "agent",
-		Level:      log.LevelFromString(config.LogLevel),
-		Output:     logOutput,
-		JSONFormat: config.LogJson,
-	})
+	a.logger = logger
 	a.httpLogger = a.logger.ResetNamed("http")
 
 	// Global logger should match internal logger as much as possible
diff --git a/command/agent/command.go b/command/agent/command.go
index 47da7e272..a1658eb50 100644
--- a/command/agent/command.go
+++ b/command/agent/command.go
@@ -15,18 +15,20 @@ import (
 	"syscall"
 	"time"
 
-	metrics "github.com/armon/go-metrics"
+	"github.com/armon/go-metrics"
 	"github.com/armon/go-metrics/circonus"
 	"github.com/armon/go-metrics/datadog"
 	"github.com/armon/go-metrics/prometheus"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/lib"
-	checkpoint "github.com/hashicorp/go-checkpoint"
-	discover "github.com/hashicorp/go-discover"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-checkpoint"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-discover"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-hclog"
 	gsyslog "github.com/hashicorp/go-syslog"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/logutils"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/helper"
 	flaghelper "github.com/hashicorp/nomad/helper/flag-helpers"
 	gatedwriter "github.com/hashicorp/nomad/helper/gated-writer"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/helper/logging"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/nomad/structs/config"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/version"
 	"github.com/mitchellh/cli"
@@ -402,9 +404,9 @@ func (c *Command) setupLoggers(config *Config) (*gatedwriter.Writer, *logWriter,
 }
 
 // setupAgent is used to start the agent and various interfaces
-func (c *Command) setupAgent(config *Config, logOutput io.Writer, inmem *metrics.InmemSink) error {
+func (c *Command) setupAgent(config *Config, logger hclog.Logger, logOutput io.Writer, inmem *metrics.InmemSink) error {
 	c.Ui.Output("Starting Nomad agent...")
-	agent, err := NewAgent(config, logOutput, inmem)
+	agent, err := NewAgent(config, logger, logOutput, inmem)
 	if err != nil {
 		c.Ui.Error(fmt.Sprintf("Error starting agent: %s", err))
 		return err
@@ -555,6 +557,19 @@ func (c *Command) Run(args []string) int {
 		return 1
 	}
 
+	// Create logger
+	logger := hclog.New(&hclog.LoggerOptions{
+		Name:       "agent",
+		Level:      hclog.LevelFromString(config.LogLevel),
+		Output:     logOutput,
+		JSONFormat: config.LogJson,
+	})
+
+	// Swap out UI implementation if json logging is enabled
+	if config.LogJson {
+		c.Ui = &logging.HcLogUI{Log: logger}
+	}
+
 	// Log config files
 	if len(config.Files) > 0 {
 		c.Ui.Output(fmt.Sprintf("Loaded configuration from %s", strings.Join(config.Files, ", ")))
@@ -570,7 +585,7 @@ func (c *Command) Run(args []string) int {
 	}
 
 	// Create the agent
-	if err := c.setupAgent(config, logOutput, inmem); err != nil {
+	if err := c.setupAgent(config, logger, logOutput, inmem); err != nil {
 		logGate.Flush()
 		return 1
 	}
diff --git a/command/agent/testagent.go b/command/agent/testagent.go
index b8d5f55a7..2b2bfedee 100644
--- a/command/agent/testagent.go
+++ b/command/agent/testagent.go
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import (
 
 	metrics "github.com/armon/go-metrics"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/consul/lib/freeport"
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-hclog"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/api"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/client/fingerprint"
 	"github.com/hashicorp/nomad/helper/testlog"
@@ -215,7 +216,14 @@ func (a *TestAgent) start() (*Agent, error) {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to set up in memory metrics needed for agent initialization")
 	}
 
-	agent, err := NewAgent(a.Config, a.LogOutput, inm)
+	logger := hclog.New(&hclog.LoggerOptions{
+		Name:       "agent",
+		Level:      hclog.LevelFromString(a.Config.LogLevel),
+		Output:     a.LogOutput,
+		JSONFormat: a.Config.LogJson,
+	})
+
+	agent, err := NewAgent(a.Config, logger, a.LogOutput, inm)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
diff --git a/helper/logging/logging.go b/helper/logging/logging.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c85659ff0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helper/logging/logging.go
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package logging
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/hashicorp/go-hclog"
+)
+
+// HcLogUI is an implementation of Ui that takes a hclogger
+// and uses it to Log the output. It is intended for write only
+// use cases and the Ask/AskSecret methods are not implemented.
+type HcLogUI struct {
+	Log hclog.Logger
+}
+
+func (l *HcLogUI) Ask(query string) (string, error) {
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("Ask is not supported in this implementation")
+}
+
+func (l *HcLogUI) AskSecret(query string) (string, error) {
+	return "", fmt.Errorf("AskSecret is not supported in this implementation")
+}
+
+func (l *HcLogUI) Output(message string) {
+	l.Log.Info(message)
+}
+
+func (l *HcLogUI) Info(message string) {
+	l.Log.Info(message)
+}
+
+func (l *HcLogUI) Error(message string) {
+	l.Log.Error(message)
+}
+
+func (l *HcLogUI) Warn(message string) {
+	l.Log.Warn(message)
+}