diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 86f3a4ca5..14114580a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 ### Compatibility changes
 
+* The `logconfig` setting is deprecated.
 * For plugin authors:
   * Etherpad now uses [jsdom](https://github.com/jsdom/jsdom) instead of
     [cheerio](https://cheerio.js.org/) for processing HTML imports. There are
diff --git a/settings.json.docker b/settings.json.docker
index 40872339d..ed1be901d 100644
--- a/settings.json.docker
+++ b/settings.json.docker
@@ -586,58 +586,6 @@
    */
   "loglevel": "${LOGLEVEL:INFO}",
 
-  /*
-   * Logging configuration. See log4js documentation for further information:
-   * https://github.com/nomiddlename/log4js-node
-   *
-   * You can add as many appenders as you want here.
-   */
-  "logconfig" :
-    { "appenders": [
-        { "type": "console"
-        //, "category": "access"// only logs pad access
-        }
-
-      /*
-      , { "type": "file"
-      , "filename": "your-log-file-here.log"
-      , "maxLogSize": 1024
-      , "backups": 3 // how many log files there're gonna be at max
-      //, "category": "test" // only log a specific category
-        }
-      */
-
-      /*
-      , { "type": "logLevelFilter"
-        , "level": "warn" // filters out all log messages that have a lower level than "error"
-        , "appender":
-          {  Use whatever appender you want here  }
-        }
-      */
-
-      /*
-      , { "type": "logLevelFilter"
-        , "level": "error" // filters out all log messages that have a lower level than "error"
-        , "appender":
-          { "type": "smtp"
-          , "subject": "An error occurred in your EPL instance!"
-          , "recipients": "bar@blurdybloop.com, baz@blurdybloop.com"
-          , "sendInterval": 300 // 60 * 5 = 5 minutes -- will buffer log messages; set to 0 to send a mail for every message
-          , "transport": "SMTP", "SMTP": { // see https://github.com/andris9/Nodemailer#possible-transport-methods
-              "host": "smtp.example.com", "port": 465,
-              "secureConnection": true,
-              "auth": {
-                  "user": "foo@example.com",
-                  "pass": "bar_foo"
-              }
-            }
-          }
-        }
-      */
-
-      ]
-    }, // logconfig
-
   /* Override any strings found in locale directories */
   "customLocaleStrings": {}
 }
diff --git a/settings.json.template b/settings.json.template
index 2d7f119a2..8b8766be8 100644
--- a/settings.json.template
+++ b/settings.json.template
@@ -590,58 +590,6 @@
    */
   "loglevel": "INFO",
 
-  /*
-   * Logging configuration. See log4js documentation for further information:
-   * https://github.com/nomiddlename/log4js-node
-   *
-   * You can add as many appenders as you want here.
-   */
-  "logconfig" :
-    { "appenders": [
-        { "type": "console"
-        //, "category": "access"// only logs pad access
-        }
-
-      /*
-      , { "type": "file"
-      , "filename": "your-log-file-here.log"
-      , "maxLogSize": 1024
-      , "backups": 3 // how many log files there're gonna be at max
-      //, "category": "test" // only log a specific category
-        }
-      */
-
-      /*
-      , { "type": "logLevelFilter"
-        , "level": "warn" // filters out all log messages that have a lower level than "error"
-        , "appender":
-          {  Use whatever appender you want here  }
-        }
-      */
-
-      /*
-      , { "type": "logLevelFilter"
-        , "level": "error" // filters out all log messages that have a lower level than "error"
-        , "appender":
-          { "type": "smtp"
-          , "subject": "An error occurred in your EPL instance!"
-          , "recipients": "bar@blurdybloop.com, baz@blurdybloop.com"
-          , "sendInterval": 300 // 60 * 5 = 5 minutes -- will buffer log messages; set to 0 to send a mail for every message
-          , "transport": "SMTP", "SMTP": { // see https://github.com/andris9/Nodemailer#possible-transport-methods
-              "host": "smtp.example.com", "port": 465,
-              "secureConnection": true,
-              "auth": {
-                  "user": "foo@example.com",
-                  "pass": "bar_foo"
-              }
-            }
-          }
-        }
-      */
-
-      ]
-    }, // logconfig
-
   /* Override any strings found in locale directories */
   "customLocaleStrings": {},
 
diff --git a/src/node/utils/Settings.js b/src/node/utils/Settings.js
index 78235de0e..1a8bb000e 100644
--- a/src/node/utils/Settings.js
+++ b/src/node/utils/Settings.js
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
  */
 
 const absolutePaths = require('./AbsolutePaths');
+const deepEqual = require('fast-deep-equal/es6');
 const fs = require('fs');
 const os = require('os');
 const path = require('path');
@@ -47,9 +48,13 @@ const defaultLogConfig = () => ({appenders: [{type: 'console'}]});
 const defaultLogLevel = 'INFO';
 
 const initLogging = (logLevel, config) => {
+  // log4js.configure() modifies exports.logconfig so check for equality first.
+  const logConfigIsDefault = deepEqual(config, defaultLogConfig());
   log4js.configure(config);
   log4js.setGlobalLogLevel(logLevel);
   log4js.replaceConsole();
+  // Log the warning after configuring log4js to increase the chances the user will see it.
+  if (!logConfigIsDefault) logger.warn('The logconfig setting is deprecated.');
 };
 
 // Initialize logging as early as possible with reasonable defaults. Logging will be re-initialized
diff --git a/src/package.json b/src/package.json
index 8e1f17414..8e441058a 100644
--- a/src/package.json
+++ b/src/package.json
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
     "express": "4.17.1",
     "express-rate-limit": "5.3.0",
     "express-session": "1.17.2",
+    "fast-deep-equal": "^3.1.3",
     "find-root": "1.1.0",
     "formidable": "1.2.2",
     "http-errors": "1.8.0",