diff --git a/contrib/epee/include/misc_log_ex.h b/contrib/epee/include/misc_log_ex.h
index ec4bcbe2d..c79232357 100644
--- a/contrib/epee/include/misc_log_ex.h
+++ b/contrib/epee/include/misc_log_ex.h
@@ -125,6 +125,7 @@
 std::string mlog_get_default_log_path(const char *default_filename);
 void mlog_configure(const std::string &filename_base, bool console);
 void mlog_set_categories(const char *categories);
+std::string mlog_get_categories();
 void mlog_set_log_level(int level);
 void mlog_set_log(const char *log);
 
diff --git a/contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp b/contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp
index f7efbe39d..4fd47a350 100644
--- a/contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp
+++ b/contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp
@@ -144,8 +144,45 @@ void mlog_configure(const std::string &filename_base, bool console)
 
 void mlog_set_categories(const char *categories)
 {
-  el::Loggers::setCategories(categories);
-  MLOG_LOG("New log categories: " << categories);
+  std::string new_categories;
+  if (*categories)
+  {
+    if (*categories == '+')
+    {
+      ++categories;
+      new_categories = mlog_get_categories();
+      if (*categories)
+      {
+        if (!new_categories.empty())
+          new_categories += ",";
+        new_categories += categories;
+      }
+    }
+    else if (*categories == '-')
+    {
+      ++categories;
+      new_categories = mlog_get_categories();
+      std::vector<std::string> single_categories;
+      boost::split(single_categories, categories, boost::is_any_of(","), boost::token_compress_on);
+      for (const std::string &s: single_categories)
+      {
+        size_t pos = new_categories.find(s);
+        if (pos != std::string::npos)
+          new_categories = new_categories.erase(pos, s.size());
+      }
+    }
+    else
+    {
+      new_categories = categories;
+    }
+  }
+  el::Loggers::setCategories(new_categories.c_str(), true);
+  MLOG_LOG("New log categories: " << el::Loggers::getCategories());
+}
+
+std::string mlog_get_categories()
+{
+  return el::Loggers::getCategories();
 }
 
 // maps epee style log level to new logging system
diff --git a/src/daemon/command_parser_executor.cpp b/src/daemon/command_parser_executor.cpp
index d949a57b1..7d6464033 100644
--- a/src/daemon/command_parser_executor.cpp
+++ b/src/daemon/command_parser_executor.cpp
@@ -125,12 +125,17 @@ bool t_command_parser_executor::print_blockchain_info(const std::vector<std::str
 
 bool t_command_parser_executor::set_log_level(const std::vector<std::string>& args)
 {
-  if(args.size() != 1)
+  if(args.size() > 1)
   {
     std::cout << "use: set_log [<log_level_number_0-4> | <categories>]" << std::endl;
     return true;
   }
 
+  if (args.empty())
+  {
+    return m_executor.set_log_categories("+");
+  }
+
   uint16_t l = 0;
   if(epee::string_tools::get_xtype_from_string(l, args[0]))
   {
diff --git a/src/daemon/command_server.cpp b/src/daemon/command_server.cpp
index b9f503c6b..3f1543857 100644
--- a/src/daemon/command_server.cpp
+++ b/src/daemon/command_server.cpp
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ t_command_server::t_command_server(
   m_command_lookup.set_handler(
       "set_log"
     , std::bind(&t_command_parser_executor::set_log_level, &m_parser, p::_1)
-    , "set_log <level>|<categories> - Change current loglevel, <level> is a number 0-4"
+    , "set_log <level>|<{+,-,}categories> - Change current log level/categories, <level> is a number 0-4"
     );
   m_command_lookup.set_handler(
       "diff"
diff --git a/src/daemon/rpc_command_executor.cpp b/src/daemon/rpc_command_executor.cpp
index 167e24ed3..a55e96796 100644
--- a/src/daemon/rpc_command_executor.cpp
+++ b/src/daemon/rpc_command_executor.cpp
@@ -599,7 +599,7 @@ bool t_rpc_command_executor::set_log_categories(const std::string &categories) {
     }
   }
 
-  tools::success_msg_writer() << "Log categories are now " << categories;
+  tools::success_msg_writer() << "Log categories are now " << res.categories;
 
   return true;
 }
diff --git a/src/rpc/core_rpc_server.cpp b/src/rpc/core_rpc_server.cpp
index 1f7f4a1ff..8f157dea2 100644
--- a/src/rpc/core_rpc_server.cpp
+++ b/src/rpc/core_rpc_server.cpp
@@ -810,6 +810,7 @@ namespace cryptonote
   bool core_rpc_server::on_set_log_categories(const COMMAND_RPC_SET_LOG_CATEGORIES::request& req, COMMAND_RPC_SET_LOG_CATEGORIES::response& res)
   {
     mlog_set_log(req.categories.c_str());
+    res.categories = mlog_get_categories();
     res.status = CORE_RPC_STATUS_OK;
     return true;
   }
diff --git a/src/rpc/core_rpc_server_commands_defs.h b/src/rpc/core_rpc_server_commands_defs.h
index 88327dd75..3b3596d0b 100644
--- a/src/rpc/core_rpc_server_commands_defs.h
+++ b/src/rpc/core_rpc_server_commands_defs.h
@@ -979,8 +979,11 @@ namespace cryptonote
     struct response
     {
       std::string status;
+      std::string categories;
+
       BEGIN_KV_SERIALIZE_MAP()
         KV_SERIALIZE(status)
+        KV_SERIALIZE(categories)
       END_KV_SERIALIZE_MAP()
     };
   };
diff --git a/src/simplewallet/simplewallet.cpp b/src/simplewallet/simplewallet.cpp
index 3fe68046b..b5aa4953c 100644
--- a/src/simplewallet/simplewallet.cpp
+++ b/src/simplewallet/simplewallet.cpp
@@ -747,7 +747,7 @@ simple_wallet::simple_wallet()
   m_cmd_binder.set_handler("donate", boost::bind(&simple_wallet::donate, this, _1), tr("donate [<ring_size>] <amount> [payment_id] - Donate <amount> to the development team (donate.getmonero.org)"));
   m_cmd_binder.set_handler("sign_transfer", boost::bind(&simple_wallet::sign_transfer, this, _1), tr("Sign a transaction from a file"));
   m_cmd_binder.set_handler("submit_transfer", boost::bind(&simple_wallet::submit_transfer, this, _1), tr("Submit a signed transaction from a file"));
-  m_cmd_binder.set_handler("set_log", boost::bind(&simple_wallet::set_log, this, _1), tr("set_log <level>|<categories> - Change current log detail (level must be <0-4>)"));
+  m_cmd_binder.set_handler("set_log", boost::bind(&simple_wallet::set_log, this, _1), tr("set_log <level>|{+,-,}<categories> - Change current log detail (level must be <0-4>)"));
   m_cmd_binder.set_handler("address", boost::bind(&simple_wallet::print_address, this, _1), tr("Show current wallet public address"));
   m_cmd_binder.set_handler("integrated_address", boost::bind(&simple_wallet::print_integrated_address, this, _1), tr("integrated_address [PID] - Encode a payment ID into an integrated address for the current wallet public address (no argument uses a random payment ID), or decode an integrated address to standard address and payment ID"));
   m_cmd_binder.set_handler("address_book", boost::bind(&simple_wallet::address_book, this, _1), tr("address_book [(add (<address> [pid <long or short payment id>])|<integrated address> [<description possibly with whitespaces>])|(delete <index>)] - Print all entries in the address book, optionally adding/deleting an entry to/from it"));
@@ -855,12 +855,14 @@ bool simple_wallet::set_variable(const std::vector<std::string> &args)
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 bool simple_wallet::set_log(const std::vector<std::string> &args)
 {
-  if(args.size() != 1)
+  if(args.size() > 1)
   {
     fail_msg_writer() << tr("usage: set_log <log_level_number_0-4> | <categories>");
     return true;
   }
-  mlog_set_log(args[0].c_str());
+  if (!args.empty())
+    mlog_set_log(args[0].c_str());
+  success_msg_writer() << "New log categories: " << mlog_get_categories();
   return true;
 }
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------