diff --git a/doc/guides/contributing/coding_style.rst b/doc/guides/contributing/coding_style.rst
index b0f0adb887b4..365a4b17a983 100644
--- a/doc/guides/contributing/coding_style.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/contributing/coding_style.rst
@@ -615,7 +615,7 @@ In the DPDK environment, use the logging interface provided:
  rte_log_set_level(my_logtype2, RTE_LOG_NOTICE);
 
  /* enable all PMD logs (whose identifier string starts with "pmd") */
- rte_log_set_level_regexp("pmd.*", RTE_LOG_DEBUG);
+ rte_log_set_level_match("pmd.*", RTE_LOG_DEBUG);
 
  /* log in debug level */
  rte_log_set_global_level(RTE_LOG_DEBUG);
diff --git a/doc/guides/nics/qede.rst b/doc/guides/nics/qede.rst
index 63ce9b4c60c6..42dd70db39df 100644
--- a/doc/guides/nics/qede.rst
+++ b/doc/guides/nics/qede.rst
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ This section provides instructions to configure SR-IOV with Linux OS.
 
 
 #. Running testpmd
-   (Supply ``--log-level="pmd.net.qede.driver",7`` to view informational messages):
+   (Supply ``--log-level="pmd.net.qede.driver:7`` to view informational messages):
 
    Refer to the document
    :ref:`compiling and testing a PMD for a NIC <pmd_build_and_test>` to run
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_log.c b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_log.c
index c47e53b3db74..d1484dacd98f 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_log.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_log.c
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <regex.h>
+#include <fnmatch.h>
 
 #include <rte_eal.h>
 #include <rte_log.h>
@@ -28,6 +29,8 @@ struct rte_eal_opt_loglevel {
 	TAILQ_ENTRY(rte_eal_opt_loglevel) next;
 	/** Compiled regular expression obtained from the option */
 	regex_t re_match;
+	/** Glob match string option */
+	char *pattern;
 	/** Log level value obtained from the option */
 	uint32_t level;
 };
@@ -104,9 +107,9 @@ rte_log_set_level(uint32_t type, uint32_t level)
 	return 0;
 }
 
-/* set level */
+/* set log level by regular expression */
 int
-rte_log_set_level_regexp(const char *pattern, uint32_t level)
+rte_log_set_level_regexp(const char *regex, uint32_t level)
 {
 	regex_t r;
 	size_t i;
@@ -114,7 +117,7 @@ rte_log_set_level_regexp(const char *pattern, uint32_t level)
 	if (level > RTE_LOG_DEBUG)
 		return -1;
 
-	if (regcomp(&r, pattern, 0) != 0)
+	if (regcomp(&r, regex, 0) != 0)
 		return -1;
 
 	for (i = 0; i < rte_logs.dynamic_types_len; i++) {
@@ -131,24 +134,30 @@ rte_log_set_level_regexp(const char *pattern, uint32_t level)
 }
 
 /*
- * Save the type (regexp string) and the loglevel
- * in the global storage so that it could be used
- * to configure dynamic logtypes which are absent
- * at the moment of EAL option processing but may
- * be registered during runtime.
+ * Save the type string and the loglevel for later dynamic
+ * logtypes which may register later.
  */
-int rte_eal_log_save_regexp(const char *regex, int tmp)
+static int rte_log_save_level(int priority,
+			      const char *regex, const char *pattern)
 {
-	struct rte_eal_opt_loglevel *opt_ll;
+	struct rte_eal_opt_loglevel *opt_ll = NULL;
 
 	opt_ll = malloc(sizeof(*opt_ll));
 	if (opt_ll == NULL)
-		return -1;
-
-	if (regcomp(&opt_ll->re_match, regex, 0) != 0)
 		goto fail;
 
-	opt_ll->level = tmp;
+	opt_ll->level = priority;
+
+	if (regex) {
+		opt_ll->pattern = NULL;
+		if (regcomp(&opt_ll->re_match, regex, 0) != 0)
+			goto fail;
+	} else if (pattern) {
+		opt_ll->pattern = strdup(pattern);
+		if (opt_ll->pattern == NULL)
+			goto fail;
+	} else
+		goto fail;
 
 	TAILQ_INSERT_HEAD(&opt_loglevel_list, opt_ll, next);
 	return 0;
@@ -157,6 +166,36 @@ int rte_eal_log_save_regexp(const char *regex, int tmp)
 	return -1;
 }
 
+int rte_eal_log_save_regexp(const char *regex, int priority)
+{
+	return rte_log_save_level(priority, regex, NULL);
+}
+
+/* set log level based on glob (file match) pattern */
+int
+rte_log_set_level_pattern(const char *pattern, uint32_t level)
+{
+	size_t i;
+
+	if (level > RTE_LOG_DEBUG)
+		return -1;
+
+	for (i = 0; i < rte_logs.dynamic_types_len; i++) {
+		if (rte_logs.dynamic_types[i].name == NULL)
+			continue;
+
+		if (fnmatch(pattern, rte_logs.dynamic_types[i].name, 0))
+			rte_logs.dynamic_types[i].loglevel = level;
+	}
+
+	return 0;
+}
+
+int rte_eal_log_save_pattern(const char *pattern, int priority)
+{
+	return rte_log_save_level(priority, NULL, pattern);
+}
+
 /* get the current loglevel for the message being processed */
 int rte_log_cur_msg_loglevel(void)
 {
@@ -244,8 +283,13 @@ rte_log_register_type_and_pick_level(const char *name, uint32_t level_def)
 		if (opt_ll->level > RTE_LOG_DEBUG)
 			continue;
 
-		if (regexec(&opt_ll->re_match, name, 0, NULL, 0) == 0)
-			level = opt_ll->level;
+		if (opt_ll->pattern) {
+			if (fnmatch(opt_ll->pattern, name, 0))
+				level = opt_ll->level;
+		} else {
+			if (regexec(&opt_ll->re_match, name, 0, NULL, 0) == 0)
+				level = opt_ll->level;
+		}
 	}
 
 	rte_logs.dynamic_types[type].loglevel = level;
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
index 038e75d86348..604aef2b56e0 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_common_options.c
@@ -959,19 +959,23 @@ eal_parse_log_priority(const char *level)
 static int
 eal_parse_log_level(const char *arg)
 {
-	char *str, *type, *level;
+	const char *pattern = NULL;
+	const char *regex = NULL;
+	char *str, *level;
 	int priority;
 
 	str = strdup(arg);
 	if (str == NULL)
 		return -1;
 
-	if (strchr(str, ',') == NULL) {
-		type = NULL;
-		level = str;
+	if ((level = strchr(str, ','))) {
+		regex = str;
+		*level++ = '\0';
+	} else if ((level = strchr(str, ':'))) {
+		pattern = str;
+		*level++ = '\0';
 	} else {
-		type = strsep(&str, ",");
-		level = strsep(&str, ",");
+		level = str;
 	}
 
 	priority = eal_parse_log_priority(level);
@@ -980,14 +984,24 @@ eal_parse_log_level(const char *arg)
 		goto fail;
 	}
 
-	if (type == NULL) {
+	if (regex) {
+		if (rte_log_set_level_regexp(regex, priority) < 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "cannot set log level %s,%d\n",
+				pattern, priority);
+			goto fail;
+		}
+		if (rte_eal_log_save_regexp(regex, priority) < 0)
+			goto fail;
+	} else if (pattern) {
+		if (rte_log_set_level_pattern(pattern, priority) < 0) {
+			fprintf(stderr, "cannot set log level %s:%d\n",
+				pattern, priority);
+			goto fail;
+		}
+		if (rte_eal_log_save_pattern(pattern, priority) < 0)
+			goto fail;
+	} else {
 		rte_log_set_global_level(priority);
-	} else if (rte_log_set_level_regexp(type, priority) < 0) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "cannot set log level %s,%d\n",
-			type, priority);
-		goto fail;
-	} else if (rte_eal_log_save_regexp(type, priority) < 0) {
-		goto fail;
 	}
 
 	free(str);
@@ -1352,7 +1366,7 @@ eal_common_usage(void)
 	       "  --"OPT_PROC_TYPE"         Type of this process (primary|secondary|auto)\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_SYSLOG"            Set syslog facility\n"
 	       "  --"OPT_LOG_LEVEL"=<int>   Set global log level\n"
-	       "  --"OPT_LOG_LEVEL"=<type-regexp>,<int>\n"
+	       "  --"OPT_LOG_LEVEL"=<type-match>:<int>\n"
 	       "                      Set specific log level\n"
 	       "  -v                  Display version information on startup\n"
 	       "  -h, --help          This help\n"
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_private.h b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_private.h
index d505a9a3c76f..c2f541c169a9 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_private.h
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/eal_private.h
@@ -85,7 +85,8 @@ int rte_eal_log_init(const char *id, int facility);
 /**
  * Save the log regexp for later
  */
-int rte_eal_log_save_regexp(const char *type, int priority);
+int rte_eal_log_save_regexp(const char *regex, int priority);
+int rte_eal_log_save_pattern(const char *pattern, int priority);
 
 /**
  * Init tail queues for non-EAL library structures. This is to allow
diff --git a/lib/librte_eal/common/include/rte_log.h b/lib/librte_eal/common/include/rte_log.h
index 2d817c3da7c1..2f789cb90293 100644
--- a/lib/librte_eal/common/include/rte_log.h
+++ b/lib/librte_eal/common/include/rte_log.h
@@ -130,16 +130,28 @@ uint32_t rte_log_get_global_level(void);
 int rte_log_get_level(uint32_t logtype);
 
 /**
- * Set the log level for a given type.
+ * Set the log level for a given type based on shell pattern.
  *
  * @param pattern
- *   The regexp identifying the log type.
+ *   The match pattern identifying the log type.
+ * @param level
+ *   The level to be set.
+ * @return
+ *   0 on success, a negative value if level is invalid.
+ */
+int rte_log_set_level_pattern(const char *pattern, uint32_t level);
+
+/**
+ * Set the log level for a given type based on regular expression.
+ *
+ * @param regex
+ *   The regular expression identifying the log type.
  * @param level
  *   The level to be set.
  * @return
  *   0 on success, a negative value if level is invalid.
  */
-int rte_log_set_level_regexp(const char *pattern, uint32_t level);
+int rte_log_set_level_regexp(const char *regex, uint32_t level);
 
 /**
  * Set the log level for a given type.
