diff --git a/NOTICE.txt b/NOTICE.txt
index 556a317fdcc..45ed073ea60 100644
--- a/NOTICE.txt
+++ b/NOTICE.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 Elastic APM Server
-Copyright 2017-2020 Elasticsearch BV
+Copyright 2017-2021 Elasticsearch BV
 
 This product includes software developed by The Apache Software 
 Foundation (http://www.apache.org/).
diff --git a/_meta/beat.yml b/_meta/beat.yml
index d1b8a337f6a..896b1b9ef77 100644
--- a/_meta/beat.yml
+++ b/_meta/beat.yml
@@ -1059,11 +1059,10 @@ output.elasticsearch:
   #interval: 0
 
 # Set to true to log messages in json format.
-#logging.json: false
+#logging.json: true
 
 # Set to true, to log messages with minimal required Elastic Common Schema (ECS)
-# information. Recommended to use in combination with `logging.json=true`
-# Defaults to true.
+# information. Recommended to use in combination with `logging.json=true`.
 #logging.ecs: true
 
 #=============================== HTTP Endpoint ===============================
diff --git a/apm-server.docker.yml b/apm-server.docker.yml
index 4da27ac1b09..4560dd4b8c7 100644
--- a/apm-server.docker.yml
+++ b/apm-server.docker.yml
@@ -1059,11 +1059,10 @@ output.elasticsearch:
   #interval: 0
 
 # Set to true to log messages in json format.
-#logging.json: false
+#logging.json: true
 
 # Set to true, to log messages with minimal required Elastic Common Schema (ECS)
-# information. Recommended to use in combination with `logging.json=true`
-# Defaults to true.
+# information. Recommended to use in combination with `logging.json=true`.
 #logging.ecs: true
 
 #=============================== HTTP Endpoint ===============================
diff --git a/apm-server.yml b/apm-server.yml
index 2b099f5fa08..1d537773ff7 100644
--- a/apm-server.yml
+++ b/apm-server.yml
@@ -1059,11 +1059,10 @@ output.elasticsearch:
   #interval: 0
 
 # Set to true to log messages in json format.
-#logging.json: false
+#logging.json: true
 
 # Set to true, to log messages with minimal required Elastic Common Schema (ECS)
-# information. Recommended to use in combination with `logging.json=true`
-# Defaults to true.
+# information. Recommended to use in combination with `logging.json=true`.
 #logging.ecs: true
 
 #=============================== HTTP Endpoint ===============================
diff --git a/changelogs/7.11.asciidoc b/changelogs/7.11.asciidoc
index 565eb95e738..2dab1fbde13 100644
--- a/changelogs/7.11.asciidoc
+++ b/changelogs/7.11.asciidoc
@@ -34,4 +34,5 @@ https://github.com/elastic/apm-server/compare/v7.10.2\...v7.11.0[View commits]
 * Upgrade Go to 1.14.12 {pull}4478[4478]
 * Added apm-server.response_headers config {pull}4523[4523]
 * Switch logging format to be ECS compliant where possible {pull}3829[3829]
+* Switch logging format to JSON to work with ECS logging {pull}4590[4590]
 * Switch from `keyword` to `wildcard` in alignment with ECS 1.7 {pull}4577[4577]
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 8d9173b5f15..2dfcd252ddb 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ var libbeatConfigOverrides = []cfgfile.ConditionalOverride{{
 			"metrics": map[string]interface{}{
 				"enabled": false,
 			},
-			"ecs": true,
+			"ecs":  true,
+			"json": true,
 		},
 	}),
 }}
diff --git a/docs/breaking-changes.asciidoc b/docs/breaking-changes.asciidoc
index fc3e603c53f..2b1d17eb426 100644
--- a/docs/breaking-changes.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/breaking-changes.asciidoc
@@ -3,6 +3,10 @@
 APM Server is built on top of {beats-ref}/index.html[libbeat].
 As such, any breaking change in libbeat is also considered to be a breaking change in APM Server.
 
+[float]
+=== 7.11
+There are no breaking changes in APM Server.
+
 [float]
 === 7.10
 There are no breaking changes in APM Server.
diff --git a/docs/guide/apm-breaking-changes.asciidoc b/docs/guide/apm-breaking-changes.asciidoc
index eba6400b6bd..8deca8dcf5e 100644
--- a/docs/guide/apm-breaking-changes.asciidoc
+++ b/docs/guide/apm-breaking-changes.asciidoc
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 This section discusses the changes that you need to be aware of when migrating your application from one version of APM to another.
 
+* <<breaking-7.11.0>>
 * <<breaking-7.10.0>>
 * <<breaking-7.9.0>>
 * <<breaking-7.8.0>>
@@ -28,6 +29,13 @@ Also see {observability-guide}/whats-new.html[What's new in Observability {minor
 // tag::notable-v8-breaking-changes[]
 // end::notable-v8-breaking-changes[]
 
+[[breaking-7.11.0]]
+=== 7.11.0 APM Breaking changes
+
+// tag::notable-breaking-changes[]
+No breaking changes.
+// end::notable-breaking-changes[]
+
 [[breaking-7.10.0]]
 === 7.10.0 APM Breaking changes
 
diff --git a/systemtest/export_test.go b/systemtest/export_test.go
index 51849acfbc0..bff513ed827 100644
--- a/systemtest/export_test.go
+++ b/systemtest/export_test.go
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ func TestExportConfigDefaults(t *testing.T) {
 	expectedConfig := strings.ReplaceAll(`
 logging:
   ecs: true
+  json: true
   metrics:
     enabled: false
 path:
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@ func TestExportConfigOverrideDefaults(t *testing.T) {
 	expectedConfig := strings.ReplaceAll(`
 logging:
   ecs: true
+  json: true
   metrics:
     enabled: true
 path:
diff --git a/tests/system/config/apm-server.yml.j2 b/tests/system/config/apm-server.yml.j2
index 8b075e8e97f..e67c0e9e22e 100644
--- a/tests/system/config/apm-server.yml.j2
+++ b/tests/system/config/apm-server.yml.j2
@@ -249,21 +249,14 @@ output.elasticsearch:
 
 ############################# Logging #########################################
 
-{% if logging_json or logging_level or logging_ecs_disabled %}
-logging:
-{% endif %}
 {% if logging_json %}
-  # Set to true to log messages in json format.
-  json: {{ logging_json }}
-{% endif %}
-
-{% if logging_level %}
-  # Set log level
-  level: {{ logging_level }}
+# Defaults to true.
+logging.json: {{ logging_json }}
 {% endif %}
 
-{% if logging_ecs_disabled %}
-  ecs: false
+{% if logging_ecs %}
+# Defaults to true.
+logging.ecs: {{ logging_json }}
 {% endif %}
 
 queue.mem.flush.min_events: {{ queue_flush }}
diff --git a/tests/system/test_integration_acm.py b/tests/system/test_integration_acm.py
index 03c619f13a6..8629a236547 100644
--- a/tests/system/test_integration_acm.py
+++ b/tests/system/test_integration_acm.py
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ def config(self):
         cfg = super(AgentConfigurationTest, self).config()
         cfg.update({
             "kibana_host": self.get_kibana_url(),
-            "logging_json": "true",
             "kibana_enabled": "true",
             "acm_cache_expiration": "1s"
         })
@@ -184,7 +183,6 @@ def test_rum_disabled(self):
 @integration_test
 class AgentConfigurationKibanaDownIntegrationTest(ElasticTest):
     config_overrides = {
-        "logging_json": "true",
         "secret_token": "supersecret",
         "kibana_enabled": "true",
         "kibana_host": "unreachablehost"
@@ -223,7 +221,6 @@ def test_config_requests(self):
 @integration_test
 class AgentConfigurationKibanaDisabledIntegrationTest(ElasticTest):
     config_overrides = {
-        "logging_json": "true",
         "kibana_enabled": "false",
     }
 
diff --git a/tests/system/test_jaeger.py b/tests/system/test_jaeger.py
index 12f4b673953..058d556fcc8 100644
--- a/tests/system/test_jaeger.py
+++ b/tests/system/test_jaeger.py
@@ -33,7 +33,8 @@ def config(self):
             # check that the authorization tag is always removed,
             # even if there's no secret token / API Key auth.
             "jaeger_grpc_auth_tag": "authorization",
-            "logging_ecs_disabled": "true",
+            "logging_ecs": "false",
+            "logging_json": "false",
         })
         return cfg