diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index dced351fdb..7d32da4a94 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -100,10 +100,12 @@ func main() {
 	}
 	log.SetLevel(ll)
 
-	// Klog V2 is used by k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels and can throw (a lot) of irrelevant logs
-	// See https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/external-dns/issues/2348
-	defer klog.ClearLogger()
-	klog.SetLogger(logr.Discard())
+	if ll < log.DebugLevel {
+		// Klog V2 is used by k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels and can throw (a lot) of irrelevant logs
+		// See https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/external-dns/issues/2348
+		defer klog.ClearLogger()
+		klog.SetLogger(logr.Discard())
+	}
 
 	ctx, cancel := context.WithCancel(context.Background())