diff --git a/plugins/common/kafka/logger.go b/plugins/common/kafka/logger.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ad264c31e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/common/kafka/logger.go
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+package kafka
+
+import (
+	"github.com/Shopify/sarama"
+
+	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf"
+	"github.com/influxdata/telegraf/models"
+)
+
+type Logger struct {
+}
+
+// DebugLogger logs messages from sarama at the debug level.
+type DebugLogger struct {
+	Log telegraf.Logger
+}
+
+func (l *DebugLogger) Print(v ...interface{}) {
+	l.Log.Debug(v...)
+}
+
+func (l *DebugLogger) Printf(format string, v ...interface{}) {
+	l.Log.Debugf(format, v...)
+}
+
+func (l *DebugLogger) Println(v ...interface{}) {
+	l.Print(v...)
+}
+
+// SetLogger configures a debug logger for kafka (sarama)
+func (k *Logger) SetLogger() {
+	log := &models.Logger{Name: "sarama"}
+	sarama.Logger = &DebugLogger{Log: log}
+}
diff --git a/plugins/inputs/kafka_consumer/kafka_consumer.go b/plugins/inputs/kafka_consumer/kafka_consumer.go
index b80fdeb7f..d9c24f034 100644
--- a/plugins/inputs/kafka_consumer/kafka_consumer.go
+++ b/plugins/inputs/kafka_consumer/kafka_consumer.go
@@ -47,6 +47,8 @@ type KafkaConsumer struct {
 
 	kafka.ReadConfig
 
+	kafka.Logger
+
 	Log telegraf.Logger `toml:"-"`
 
 	ConsumerCreator ConsumerGroupCreator `toml:"-"`
@@ -83,6 +85,8 @@ func (k *KafkaConsumer) SetParser(parser parsers.Parser) {
 }
 
 func (k *KafkaConsumer) Init() error {
+	k.SetLogger()
+
 	if k.MaxUndeliveredMessages == 0 {
 		k.MaxUndeliveredMessages = defaultMaxUndeliveredMessages
 	}
diff --git a/plugins/outputs/kafka/kafka.go b/plugins/outputs/kafka/kafka.go
index 70854dacc..10f86a124 100644
--- a/plugins/outputs/kafka/kafka.go
+++ b/plugins/outputs/kafka/kafka.go
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ type Kafka struct {
 
 	kafka.WriteConfig
 
+	kafka.Logger
+
 	Log telegraf.Logger `toml:"-"`
 
 	saramaConfig *sarama.Config
@@ -64,25 +66,6 @@ type TopicSuffix struct {
 	Separator string   `toml:"separator"`
 }
 
-// DebugLogger logs messages from sarama at the debug level.
-type DebugLogger struct {
-	Log telegraf.Logger
-}
-
-func (l *DebugLogger) Print(v ...interface{}) {
-	args := make([]interface{}, 0, len(v)+1)
-	args = append(append(args, "[sarama] "), v...)
-	l.Log.Debug(args...)
-}
-
-func (l *DebugLogger) Printf(format string, v ...interface{}) {
-	l.Log.Debugf("[sarama] "+format, v...)
-}
-
-func (l *DebugLogger) Println(v ...interface{}) {
-	l.Print(v...)
-}
-
 func ValidateTopicSuffixMethod(method string) error {
 	for _, validMethod := range ValidTopicSuffixMethods {
 		if method == validMethod {
@@ -137,7 +120,7 @@ func (k *Kafka) SetSerializer(serializer serializers.Serializer) {
 }
 
 func (k *Kafka) Init() error {
-	sarama.Logger = &DebugLogger{Log: k.Log}
+	k.SetLogger()
 
 	err := ValidateTopicSuffixMethod(k.TopicSuffix.Method)
 	if err != nil {