diff --git a/cmd/premain-libos/main.go b/cmd/premain-libos/main.go
index fedaf87f..0ce8f5c6 100644
--- a/cmd/premain-libos/main.go
+++ b/cmd/premain-libos/main.go
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@ import (
 	"path/filepath"
 	"strings"
 
+	"github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun/internal/constants"
+	"github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun/marble/premain"
 	marblePremain "github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun/marble/premain"
+	"github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun/util"
 	"github.com/spf13/afero"
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
 )
@@ -26,7 +29,9 @@ const (
 	occlum
 )
 
-func exit(format string, args ...interface{}) {
+var exit func(format string, args ...interface{})
+
+func exitStdLog(format string, args ...interface{}) {
 	// Print error message in red and append newline
 	// then exit with error code 1
 	msg := fmt.Sprintf("Error: %s\n", format)
@@ -35,6 +40,19 @@ func exit(format string, args ...interface{}) {
 }
 
 func main() {
+	exit = exitStdLog
+	if strings.EqualFold(util.Getenv(constants.EnvLogFormat, ""), constants.LogFormatJSON) {
+		zapLog, err := premain.LogJSON()
+		if err != nil {
+			exit("failed to initialize logger: %s", err)
+		}
+		defer zapLog.Sync()
+
+		exit = func(format string, args ...interface{}) {
+			zapLog.Fatal(fmt.Sprintf(format, args...))
+		}
+	}
+
 	log.SetPrefix("[PreMain] ")
 
 	// Automatically detect libOS based on uname
diff --git a/docs/docs/workflows/add-service.md b/docs/docs/workflows/add-service.md
index 568362d1..c87f2bd3 100644
--- a/docs/docs/workflows/add-service.md
+++ b/docs/docs/workflows/add-service.md
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ Adding a service to your application requires three steps, which are described i
 ## **Step 1:** Get your service ready for MarbleRun
 
 To get your service ready for MarbleRun, you need to rebuild it with one of the supported [runtimes](../features/runtimes.md):
+
 * [EGo](../building-marbles/ego.md)
 * [Edgeless RT](https://github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun/blob/master/samples/helloc%2B%2B)
 * [Gramine](../building-marbles/gramine.md)
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ Now that your service is ready, you need to make two types of entries in the man
 As is described in more detail in the [writing a manifest hands-on](../workflows/define-manifest.md#packages), the manifest contains a section `Packages`, in which allowed enclave software packages are defined.
 
 #### EGo / EdgelessRT
+
 To add an entry for your EGo / EdgelessRT service, run the `oesign` tool on the enclave file you built in the previous step as follows. (`oesign` is installed with [Edgeless RT](https://github.com/edgelesssys/edgelessrt).)
 
 ```bash
@@ -50,7 +52,6 @@ The tool's output is similar to the following.
 
 To add an entry for your Gramine service, run the `gramine-sgx-get-token` tool on the `.sig` file you built in the previous step as follows. (`gramine-sgx-get-token` is installed with [Gramine](https://github.com/gramineproject/gramine/).)
 
-
 ```bash
 gramine-sgx-get-token --sig hello.sig
 ```
@@ -91,7 +92,6 @@ ProductID (ISVPRODID)     : 1
 SecurityVersion (ISVSVN)  : 3
 ```
 
-
 Use `UniqueID` (i.e., `MRENCLAVE` in Intel SGX speak) or the triplet of `SignerID` (i.e., `MRSIGNER`), `SecurityVersion`, and `ProductID` to add an entry in the `Packages` section.
 
 ### **Step 2.2:** Define the parameters
@@ -125,6 +125,8 @@ The environment variables have the following purposes.
 
 * `EDG_MARBLE_DNS_NAMES` is the list of DNS names and IPs the Coordinator will issue the Marble's certificate for.
 
+Optionally, you can set the `EDG_LOG_FORMAT` environment variable to `json` to enable JSON structured logs for the Marble's startup code.
+
 ## **Step 4:** Deploy your service with Kubernetes
 
 Typically, you'll write a Kubernetes resource definition for your service, which you'll deploy with the Kubernetes CLI, Helm, or similar tools.
diff --git a/injector/injector.go b/injector/injector.go
index a364c41b..c994200a 100644
--- a/injector/injector.go
+++ b/injector/injector.go
@@ -112,11 +112,15 @@ func (m *Mutator) mutate(body []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 	marbleType, exists := pod.Labels[labelMarbleType]
 	if !exists {
 		// admission request was sent for a pod without marblerun/marbletype label, this should not happen
-		return m.generateResponse(pod, admReviewReq, admReviewResponse, false, fmt.Sprintf("Missing [%s] label, request denied", labelMarbleType))
+		msg := fmt.Sprintf("Missing [%s] label, request denied", labelMarbleType)
+		m.log.Error(msg)
+		return m.generateResponse(pod, admReviewReq, admReviewResponse, false, msg)
 	}
 	if len(marbleType) <= 0 {
 		// deny request if the label exists, but is empty
-		return m.generateResponse(pod, admReviewReq, admReviewResponse, false, fmt.Sprintf("Empty [%s] label, request denied", labelMarbleType))
+		msg := fmt.Sprintf("Empty [%s] label, request denied", labelMarbleType)
+		m.log.Error(msg)
+		return m.generateResponse(pod, admReviewReq, admReviewResponse, false, msg)
 	}
 
 	injectSgx := false
@@ -244,7 +248,15 @@ func (m *Mutator) mutate(body []byte) ([]byte, error) {
 		})
 	}
 
-	return m.generateResponse(pod, admReviewReq, admReviewResponse, true, fmt.Sprintf("Mutation request for pod of marble type [%s] successful", marbleType))
+	msg := fmt.Sprintf("Mutation request for pod of marble type [%s] successful", marbleType)
+	resp, err := m.generateResponse(pod, admReviewReq, admReviewResponse, true, msg)
+	if err != nil {
+		m.log.Error("Unable to mutate request: response generation failed", zap.Error(err))
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	m.log.Info(msg)
+	return resp, nil
 }
 
 // checkRequest verifies the request used was POST and not empty.
@@ -321,7 +333,5 @@ func (m *Mutator) generateResponse(pod corev1.Pod, request, response v1.Admissio
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to marshal admission response: %w", err)
 	}
 
-	m.log.Info(message)
-
 	return bytes, nil
 }
diff --git a/internal/constants/constants.go b/internal/constants/constants.go
index 7614acae..5e2c4f05 100644
--- a/internal/constants/constants.go
+++ b/internal/constants/constants.go
@@ -7,6 +7,12 @@ SPDX-License-Identifier: BUSL-1.1
 package constants
 
 const (
+	// EnvLogFormat is the name of the environment variable used to pass the log format to the PreMain.
+	// Should be "json" for JSON formatted logs, or any other value for human-readable logs.
+	EnvLogFormat = "EDG_LOG_FORMAT"
+	// LogFormatJSON indicates that logs should be formatted as JSON.
+	LogFormatJSON = "json"
+
 	// EnvMarbleTTLSConfig is the name of the environment variable used to pass the TTLS configuration to the Marble.
 	EnvMarbleTTLSConfig = "MARBLE_TTLS_CONFIG"
 
diff --git a/marble/premain/premain.go b/marble/premain/premain.go
index e82873a7..3c25b77c 100644
--- a/marble/premain/premain.go
+++ b/marble/premain/premain.go
@@ -24,14 +24,26 @@ import (
 	"github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun/coordinator/quote/ertvalidator"
 	"github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun/coordinator/rpc"
 	"github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun/internal/constants"
+	"github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun/internal/logging"
 	"github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun/marble/config"
 	"github.com/edgelesssys/marblerun/util"
 	"github.com/google/uuid"
 	"github.com/spf13/afero"
+	"go.uber.org/zap"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc"
 	"google.golang.org/grpc/credentials"
 )
 
+// LogJSON replaces Go's standard logger with [*zap.Logger] to log in JSON format.
+func LogJSON() (*zap.Logger, error) {
+	zapLogger, err := logging.New()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	zap.RedirectStdLog(zapLogger)
+	return zapLogger, nil
+}
+
 // storeUUID stores the uuid to the fs.
 func storeUUID(appFs afero.Fs, marbleUUID uuid.UUID, filename string) error {
 	uuidBytes, err := marbleUUID.MarshalText()
@@ -126,6 +138,14 @@ func PreMainMock() error {
 //
 //nolint:revive
 func PreMainEx(issuer quote.Issuer, activate ActivateFunc, hostfs, enclavefs afero.Fs) error {
+	if strings.EqualFold(util.Getenv(constants.EnvLogFormat, ""), constants.LogFormatJSON) {
+		zapLog, err := LogJSON()
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		defer zapLog.Sync()
+	}
+
 	prefixBackup := log.Prefix()
 	defer log.SetPrefix(prefixBackup)
 	log.SetPrefix("[PreMain] ")