diff --git a/cmd/circologd/main.go b/cmd/circologd/main.go
index f0a2de2..435f412 100644
--- a/cmd/circologd/main.go
+++ b/cmd/circologd/main.go
@@ -22,6 +22,20 @@ func cleanSocket(socket string) {
 	}
 }
 
+func setSyslogFormat(server *syslog.Server, format string) {
+	switch {
+	case format == "auto":
+		server.SetFormat(syslog.Automatic)
+	case format == "rfc3164":
+		server.SetFormat(syslog.RFC3164)
+	case format == "rfc5424":
+		server.SetFormat(syslog.RFC5424)
+	}
+	// TODO: propose a patch to mcuadros/go-syslog.v2
+	// to get the format from the server itself.
+	log.Printf("Syslog format set to: %s\n", format)
+}
+
 func main() {
 	var err error
 	syslogSocketPath := flag.String("syslogd-socket", "", "The socket to listen to syslog addresses")
@@ -31,6 +45,7 @@ func main() {
 	queryAddr := flag.String("query-addr", "127.0.0.1:9080", "Address:port where to bind the query service")
 	querySocket := flag.String("query-socket", "", "Path to a unix domain socket for the HTTP server; recommended for security reasons!")
 	ctlSocket := flag.String("ctl-socket", "/tmp/circologd-ctl.sock", "Path to a unix domain socket for the control server; leave empty to disable")
+	logFmt := flag.String("log-fmt", "auto", "Log messages format. If not set, defaults to automatic choice. Allowed values: rfc3164, rfc5424.")
 	verbose := flag.Bool("verbose", false, "Print more output executing the daemon")
 	debug := flag.Bool("debug", false, "Print debugging info executing the daemon")
 	flag.Parse()
@@ -43,7 +58,7 @@ func main() {
 	go hub.Run()
 
 	server := syslog.NewServer()
-	server.SetFormat(syslog.Automatic)
+	setSyslogFormat(server, *logFmt)
 	server.SetHandler(handler)
 	if *syslogSocketPath != "" {
 		if err = server.ListenUnixgram(*syslogSocketPath); err != nil {