diff --git a/logger/create.go b/logger/create.go
index 315435fc..040a4ec8 100644
--- a/logger/create.go
+++ b/logger/create.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package logger
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
 
@@ -106,7 +107,7 @@ func New(opts ...Option) (Service, error) {
 
 	l := NewOutputWriter(SharedWriteManager)
 	if config.logFileDirectory != "" {
-		l.Add(NewFileRollingWriter(config.logFileDirectory,
+		l.Add(NewFileRollingWriter(SanitizeLogPath(config.logFileDirectory),
 			"cloudflared",
 			int64(config.maxFileSize),
 			config.maxFileCount),
@@ -139,3 +140,13 @@ func ParseLevelString(lvl string) ([]Level, error) {
 	}
 	return []Level{}, fmt.Errorf("not a valid log level: %q", lvl)
 }
+
+// SanitizeLogPath checks that the logger log path
+func SanitizeLogPath(path string) string {
+	newPath := strings.TrimSpace(path)
+	// make sure it has a log file extension and is not a directory
+	if filepath.Ext(newPath) != ".log" && !(isDirectory(newPath) || strings.HasSuffix(newPath, "/")) {
+		newPath = newPath + ".log"
+	}
+	return newPath
+}
diff --git a/logger/create_test.go b/logger/create_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a0617351
--- /dev/null
+++ b/logger/create_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+package logger
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestLogLevelParse(t *testing.T) {
+	lvls, err := ParseLevelString("fatal")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, []Level{FatalLevel}, lvls)
+
+	lvls, err = ParseLevelString("error")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, []Level{FatalLevel, ErrorLevel}, lvls)
+
+	lvls, err = ParseLevelString("info")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, []Level{FatalLevel, ErrorLevel, InfoLevel}, lvls)
+
+	lvls, err = ParseLevelString("info")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, []Level{FatalLevel, ErrorLevel, InfoLevel}, lvls)
+
+	lvls, err = ParseLevelString("warn")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, []Level{FatalLevel, ErrorLevel, InfoLevel}, lvls)
+
+	lvls, err = ParseLevelString("debug")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.Equal(t, []Level{FatalLevel, ErrorLevel, InfoLevel, DebugLevel}, lvls)
+
+	_, err = ParseLevelString("blah")
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+
+	_, err = ParseLevelString("")
+	assert.Error(t, err)
+}
+
+func TestPathSanitizer(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.Equal(t, "somebad/path/log.bat.log", SanitizeLogPath("\t somebad/path/log.bat\n\n"))
+	assert.Equal(t, "proper/path/cloudflared.log", SanitizeLogPath("proper/path/cloudflared.log"))
+	assert.Equal(t, "proper/path/", SanitizeLogPath("proper/path/"))
+	assert.Equal(t, "proper/path/cloudflared.log", SanitizeLogPath("\tproper/path/cloudflared\n\n"))
+}