diff --git a/benchmarks/run-benchmarks.py b/benchmarks/run-benchmarks.py
index 4491a8b..f273e96 100755
--- a/benchmarks/run-benchmarks.py
+++ b/benchmarks/run-benchmarks.py
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ if __name__ == '__main__':
         args = arg_parser.parse_args(args=sys.argv[1:])
 
         if args.trace:
-            loglevel = warcprox.TRACE
+            loglevel = logging.TRACE
         elif args.verbose:
             loglevel = logging.DEBUG
         else:
diff --git a/tests/test_ensure_rethinkdb_tables.py b/tests/test_ensure_rethinkdb_tables.py
index 030cddb..f0649f4 100644
--- a/tests/test_ensure_rethinkdb_tables.py
+++ b/tests/test_ensure_rethinkdb_tables.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import logging
 import sys
 
 logging.basicConfig(
-        stream=sys.stdout, level=warcprox.TRACE,
+        stream=sys.stdout, level=logging.TRACE,
         format='%(asctime)s %(process)d %(levelname)s %(threadName)s '
         '%(name)s.%(funcName)s(%(filename)s:%(lineno)d) %(message)s')
 
diff --git a/tests/test_warcprox.py b/tests/test_warcprox.py
index fad7130..c41f457 100755
--- a/tests/test_warcprox.py
+++ b/tests/test_warcprox.py
@@ -90,8 +90,7 @@ def _send(self, data):
 # http_client.HTTPConnection.send = _send
 
 logging.basicConfig(
-        # stream=sys.stdout, level=logging.DEBUG, # level=warcprox.TRACE,
-        stream=sys.stdout, level=warcprox.TRACE,
+        stream=sys.stdout, level=logging.TRACE,
         format='%(asctime)s %(process)d %(levelname)s %(threadName)s '
         '%(name)s.%(funcName)s(%(filename)s:%(lineno)d) %(message)s')
 logging.getLogger("requests.packages.urllib3").setLevel(logging.WARN)
diff --git a/warcprox/__init__.py b/warcprox/__init__.py
index 2dcc838..67cf654 100644
--- a/warcprox/__init__.py
+++ b/warcprox/__init__.py
@@ -266,21 +266,21 @@ def timestamp14():
     return '{:%Y%m%d%H%M%S}'.format(now)
 
 # monkey-patch log levels TRACE and NOTICE
-TRACE = 5
+logging.TRACE = (logging.NOTSET + logging.DEBUG) // 2
 def _logger_trace(self, msg, *args, **kwargs):
-    if self.isEnabledFor(TRACE):
-        self._log(TRACE, msg, args, **kwargs)
+    if self.isEnabledFor(logging.TRACE):
+        self._log(logging.TRACE, msg, args, **kwargs)
 logging.Logger.trace = _logger_trace
 logging.trace = logging.root.trace
-logging.addLevelName(TRACE, 'TRACE')
+logging.addLevelName(logging.TRACE, 'TRACE')
 
-NOTICE = (logging.INFO + logging.WARN) // 2
+logging.NOTICE = (logging.INFO + logging.WARN) // 2
 def _logger_notice(self, msg, *args, **kwargs):
-    if self.isEnabledFor(NOTICE):
-        self._log(NOTICE, msg, args, **kwargs)
+    if self.isEnabledFor(logging.NOTICE):
+        self._log(logging.NOTICE, msg, args, **kwargs)
 logging.Logger.notice = _logger_notice
 logging.notice = logging.root.notice
-logging.addLevelName(NOTICE, 'NOTICE')
+logging.addLevelName(logging.NOTICE, 'NOTICE')
 
 import warcprox.controller as controller
 import warcprox.playback as playback
diff --git a/warcprox/controller.py b/warcprox/controller.py
index e89ecbb..9d20e71 100644
--- a/warcprox/controller.py
+++ b/warcprox/controller.py
@@ -299,9 +299,7 @@ class WarcproxController(object):
         status_info.update(self.proxy.status())
 
         self.status_info = self.service_registry.heartbeat(status_info)
-        self.logger.log(
-                warcprox.TRACE, "status in service registry: %s",
-                self.status_info)
+        self.logger.trace('status in service registry: %s', self.status_info)
 
     def start(self):
         with self._start_stop_lock:
diff --git a/warcprox/main.py b/warcprox/main.py
index 0e2eddd..bf8d11e 100644
--- a/warcprox/main.py
+++ b/warcprox/main.py
@@ -290,11 +290,11 @@ def main(argv=None):
     args = parse_args(argv or sys.argv)
 
     if args.trace:
-        loglevel = warcprox.TRACE
+        loglevel = logging.TRACE
     elif args.verbose:
         loglevel = logging.DEBUG
     elif args.quiet:
-        loglevel = logging.WARNING
+        loglevel = logging.NOTICE
     else:
         loglevel = logging.INFO