diff --git a/cli_classic.c b/cli_classic.c
index edcef8e..b415076 100644
--- a/cli_classic.c
+++ b/cli_classic.c
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@
 	         "-z|"
 #endif
 	         "-E|-r <file>|-w <file>|-v <file>]\n"
-	       "       [-c <chipname>] [-l <file>]\n"
+	       "       [-c <chipname>] [-l <file>] [-o <file>]\n"
 	       "       [-i <image>] [-p <programmername>[:<parameters>]]\n\n");
 
 	printf("Please note that the command line interface for flashrom has "
@@ -135,6 +135,7 @@
 	         "<file>\n"
 	       "   -i | --image <name>               only flash image <name> "
 	         "from flash layout\n"
+	       "   -o | --output <name>              log to file <name>\n"
 	       "   -L | --list-supported             print supported devices\n"
 #if CONFIG_PRINT_WIKI == 1
 	       "   -z | --list-supported-wiki        print supported devices "
@@ -189,7 +190,7 @@
 	enum programmer prog = PROGRAMMER_INVALID;
 	int ret = 0;
 
-	static const char optstring[] = "r:Rw:v:nVEfc:l:i:p:Lzh";
+	static const char optstring[] = "r:Rw:v:nVEfc:l:i:p:Lzho:";
 	static const struct option long_options[] = {
 		{"read",		1, NULL, 'r'},
 		{"write",		1, NULL, 'w'},
@@ -206,11 +207,13 @@
 		{"programmer",		1, NULL, 'p'},
 		{"help",		0, NULL, 'h'},
 		{"version",		0, NULL, 'R'},
+		{"output",		1, NULL, 'o'},
 		{NULL,			0, NULL, 0},
 	};
 
 	char *filename = NULL;
 	char *layoutfile = NULL;
+	char *logfile = NULL;
 	char *tempstr = NULL;
 	char *pparam = NULL;
 
@@ -272,7 +275,9 @@
 			chip_to_probe = strdup(optarg);
 			break;
 		case 'V':
-			verbose++;
+			verbose_screen++;
+			if (verbose_screen > MSG_DEBUG2)
+				verbose_logfile = verbose_screen;
 			break;
 		case 'E':
 			if (++operation_specified > 1) {
@@ -378,6 +383,18 @@
 			cli_classic_usage(argv[0]);
 			exit(0);
 			break;
+		case 'o':
+#ifdef STANDALONE
+			fprintf(stderr, "Log file not supported in standalone mode. Aborting.\n");
+			cli_classic_abort_usage();
+#else /* STANDALONE */
+			logfile = strdup(optarg);
+			if (logfile[0] == '\0') {
+				fprintf(stderr, "No log filename specified.\n");
+				cli_classic_abort_usage();
+			}
+#endif /* STANDALONE */
+			break;
 		default:
 			cli_classic_abort_usage();
 			break;
@@ -396,6 +413,13 @@
 		cli_classic_abort_usage();
 	}
 
+#ifndef STANDALONE
+	if (logfile && check_filename(logfile, "log"))
+		cli_classic_abort_usage();
+	if (logfile && open_logfile(logfile))
+		return 1;
+#endif /* !STANDALONE */
+
 #if CONFIG_PRINT_WIKI == 1
 	if (list_supported_wiki) {
 		print_supported_wiki();
@@ -410,6 +434,11 @@
 		goto out;
 	}
 
+#ifndef STANDALONE
+	start_logging();
+#endif /* !STANDALONE */
+
+	print_buildinfo();
 	msg_gdbg("Command line (%i args):", argc - 1);
 	for (i = 0; i < argc; i++) {
 		msg_gdbg(" %s", argv[i]);
@@ -552,5 +581,8 @@
 out_shutdown:
 	programmer_shutdown();
 out:
+#ifndef STANDALONE
+	ret |= close_logfile();
+#endif /* !STANDALONE */
 	return ret;
 }
diff --git a/cli_output.c b/cli_output.c
index 231f2a8..57a0a05 100644
--- a/cli_output.c
+++ b/cli_output.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
  * This file is part of the flashrom project.
  *
  * Copyright (C) 2009 Sean Nelson <audiohacked@gmail.com>
+ * Copyright (C) 2011 Carl-Daniel Hailfinger
  *
  * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
  * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
@@ -20,8 +21,52 @@
 
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 #include "flash.h"
 
+#ifndef STANDALONE
+static FILE *logfile = NULL;
+
+int close_logfile(void)
+{
+	if (!logfile)
+		return 0;
+	/* No need to call fflush() explicitly, fclose() already does that. */
+	if (fclose(logfile)) {
+		/* fclose returned an error. Stop writing to be safe. */
+		logfile = NULL;
+		msg_perr("Closing the log file returned error %s\n", strerror(errno));
+		return 1;
+	}
+	logfile = NULL;
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int open_logfile(const char * const filename)
+{
+	if (!filename) {
+		msg_gerr("No filename specified.\n");
+		return 1;
+	}
+	if ((logfile = fopen(filename, "w")) == NULL) {
+		perror(filename);
+		return 1;
+	}
+	return 0;
+}
+
+void start_logging(void)
+{
+	enum msglevel oldverbose_screen = verbose_screen;
+
+	/* Shut up the console. */
+	verbose_screen = MSG_ERROR;
+	print_version();
+	verbose_screen = oldverbose_screen;
+}
+#endif /* !STANDALONE */
+
 /* Please note that level is the verbosity, not the importance of the message. */
 int print(enum msglevel level, const char *fmt, ...)
 {
@@ -32,7 +77,7 @@
 	if (level == MSG_ERROR)
 		output_type = stderr;
 
-	if (level <= verbose) {
+	if (level <= verbose_screen) {
 		va_start(ap, fmt);
 		ret = vfprintf(output_type, fmt, ap);
 		va_end(ap);
@@ -42,5 +87,14 @@
 		if (level != MSG_SPEW)
 			fflush(output_type);
 	}
+#ifndef STANDALONE
+	if ((level <= verbose_logfile) && logfile) {
+		va_start(ap, fmt);
+		ret = vfprintf(logfile, fmt, ap);
+		va_end(ap);
+		if (level != MSG_SPEW)
+			fflush(logfile);
+	}
+#endif /* !STANDALONE */
 	return ret;
 }
diff --git a/flash.h b/flash.h
index 0c14ce1..cae1ea9 100644
--- a/flash.h
+++ b/flash.h
@@ -228,7 +228,8 @@
 	write_gran_1byte,
 	write_gran_256bytes,
 };
-extern int verbose;
+extern int verbose_screen;
+extern int verbose_logfile;
 extern const char flashrom_version[];
 extern char *chip_to_probe;
 void map_flash_registers(struct flashctx *flash);
@@ -244,6 +245,7 @@
 int need_erase(uint8_t *have, uint8_t *want, unsigned int len, enum write_granularity gran);
 char *strcat_realloc(char *dest, const char *src);
 void print_version(void);
+void print_buildinfo(void);
 void print_banner(void);
 void list_programmers_linebreak(int startcol, int cols, int paren);
 int selfcheck(void);
@@ -268,6 +270,11 @@
 #define ERROR_FLASHROM_LIMIT -201
 
 /* cli_output.c */
+#ifndef STANDALONE
+int open_logfile(const char * const filename);
+int close_logfile(void);
+void start_logging(void);
+#endif
 enum msglevel {
 	MSG_ERROR	= 0,
 	MSG_INFO	= 1,
diff --git a/flashrom.c b/flashrom.c
index ec8137b..518e3d4 100644
--- a/flashrom.c
+++ b/flashrom.c
@@ -40,7 +40,8 @@
 
 const char flashrom_version[] = FLASHROM_VERSION;
 char *chip_to_probe = NULL;
-int verbose = MSG_INFO;
+int verbose_screen = MSG_INFO;
+int verbose_logfile = MSG_DEBUG2;
 
 static enum programmer programmer = PROGRAMMER_INVALID;
 
@@ -1493,43 +1494,48 @@
 #else
 	msg_ginfo(" on unknown machine");
 #endif
-	msg_ginfo(", built with");
+}
+
+void print_buildinfo(void)
+{
+	msg_gdbg("flashrom was built with");
 #if NEED_PCI == 1
 #ifdef PCILIB_VERSION
-	msg_ginfo(" libpci %s,", PCILIB_VERSION);
+	msg_gdbg(" libpci %s,", PCILIB_VERSION);
 #else
-	msg_ginfo(" unknown PCI library,");
+	msg_gdbg(" unknown PCI library,");
 #endif
 #endif
 #ifdef __clang__
-	msg_ginfo(" LLVM Clang");
+	msg_gdbg(" LLVM Clang");
 #ifdef __clang_version__
-	msg_ginfo(" %s,", __clang_version__);
+	msg_gdbg(" %s,", __clang_version__);
 #else
-	msg_ginfo(" unknown version (before r102686),");
+	msg_gdbg(" unknown version (before r102686),");
 #endif
 #elif defined(__GNUC__)
-	msg_ginfo(" GCC");
+	msg_gdbg(" GCC");
 #ifdef __VERSION__
-	msg_ginfo(" %s,", __VERSION__);
+	msg_gdbg(" %s,", __VERSION__);
 #else
-	msg_ginfo(" unknown version,");
+	msg_gdbg(" unknown version,");
 #endif
 #else
-	msg_ginfo(" unknown compiler,");
+	msg_gdbg(" unknown compiler,");
 #endif
 #if defined (__FLASHROM_LITTLE_ENDIAN__)
-	msg_ginfo(" little endian");
+	msg_gdbg(" little endian");
 #else
-	msg_ginfo(" big endian");
+	msg_gdbg(" big endian");
 #endif
-	msg_ginfo("\n");
+	msg_gdbg("\n");
 }
 
 void print_version(void)
 {
 	msg_ginfo("flashrom v%s", flashrom_version);
 	print_sysinfo();
+	msg_ginfo("\n");
 }
 
 void print_banner(void)