diff --git a/cmd/docker-fpm-wrapper/config.go b/cmd/docker-fpm-wrapper/config.go
index d8f6c68..2de1935 100644
--- a/cmd/docker-fpm-wrapper/config.go
+++ b/cmd/docker-fpm-wrapper/config.go
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 type Config struct {
-	LogLevel   int    `mapstructure:"log-level"`
+	LogLevel   string `mapstructure:"log-level"`
 	LogEncoder string `mapstructure:"log-encoder"`
 
 	FpmPath       string `mapstructure:"fpm"`
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ type Config struct {
 }
 
 func parseCommandLineFlags() {
-	pflag.Int8("log-level", -1, "Log level. -1 debug ")
+	pflag.String("log-level", "-1", "Log level. -1 debug ")
 	pflag.String("log-encoder", "auto", "Internal logging encoder")
 
 	pflag.StringP("fpm", "f", "", "path to php-fpm")
diff --git a/cmd/docker-fpm-wrapper/logger.go b/cmd/docker-fpm-wrapper/logger.go
index 55e135b..1f7d751 100644
--- a/cmd/docker-fpm-wrapper/logger.go
+++ b/cmd/docker-fpm-wrapper/logger.go
@@ -49,13 +49,13 @@ func createLoggerEncoder(eName string, encoderConfig zapcore.EncoderConfig) (zap
 	}
 }
 
-func createLogger(encName string, level int, output zapcore.WriteSyncer) (*zap.Logger, error) {
+func createLogger(encName string, level zapcore.Level, output zapcore.WriteSyncer) (*zap.Logger, error) {
 	enc, err := createLoggerEncoder(encName, newZapEncoderConfig())
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	atomicLevel := zap.NewAtomicLevelAt(zapcore.Level(level))
+	atomicLevel := zap.NewAtomicLevelAt(level)
 
 	return zap.New(zapcore.NewCore(enc, output, atomicLevel)), nil
 }
diff --git a/cmd/docker-fpm-wrapper/main.go b/cmd/docker-fpm-wrapper/main.go
index 734bb79..91267dc 100644
--- a/cmd/docker-fpm-wrapper/main.go
+++ b/cmd/docker-fpm-wrapper/main.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import (
 	"net/http"
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
+	"strconv"
 	"syscall"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
@@ -42,7 +43,21 @@ func main() {
 	}
 
 	syncStderr := zapcore.Lock(os.Stderr)
-	log, err := createLogger(cfg.LogEncoder, cfg.LogLevel, syncStderr)
+	// cfg.LogLevel can be either int or string
+	// example: it can be -1 or debug
+	// try to parse it by string
+	logLever, err := zapcore.ParseLevel(cfg.LogLevel)
+	if err != nil {
+		// so, the string is not correct, try to parse it as int
+		logLeverRaw, err := strconv.Atoi(cfg.LogLevel)
+		if err != nil {
+			fmt.Printf("Can't parse log level '%v': %v\n", cfg.LogLevel, err)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		logLever = zapcore.Level(logLeverRaw)
+	}
+
+	log, err := createLogger(cfg.LogEncoder, logLever, syncStderr)
 
 	if cfg.FpmPath == "" {
 		log.Error("php-fpm path not set")