diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-cc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/cc/CCLogConfigurationFactory.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-cc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/cc/CCLogConfigurationFactory.java
index 59ef913..22dea9f 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-cc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/cc/CCLogConfigurationFactory.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-cc/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/cc/CCLogConfigurationFactory.java
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@
  */
 package org.apache.hyracks.control.cc;
 
+import java.io.File;
+import java.net.URI;
+
 import org.apache.hyracks.control.common.controllers.CCConfig;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Level;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.LoggerContext;
@@ -30,8 +33,6 @@
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.builder.api.LayoutComponentBuilder;
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.core.config.builder.impl.BuiltConfiguration;
 
-import java.net.URI;
-
 public class CCLogConfigurationFactory extends ConfigurationFactory {
     private CCConfig config;
 
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@
     }
 
     public Configuration createConfiguration(ConfigurationBuilder<BuiltConfiguration> builder) {
-        String logDir = config.getLogDir();
+        File logDir = new File(config.getLogDir());
         builder.setStatusLevel(Level.WARN);
         builder.setConfigurationName("RollingBuilder");
         // create a rolling file appender
@@ -50,8 +51,8 @@
                 .addComponent(builder.newComponent("CronTriggeringPolicy").addAttribute("schedule", "0 0 0 * * ?"))
                 .addComponent(builder.newComponent("SizeBasedTriggeringPolicy").addAttribute("size", "50M"));
         AppenderComponentBuilder defaultRoll =
-                builder.newAppender("default", "RollingFile").addAttribute("fileName", logDir + "cc.log")
-                        .addAttribute("filePattern", logDir + "cc-%d{MM-dd-yy}.log.gz").add(defaultLayout)
+                builder.newAppender("default", "RollingFile").addAttribute("fileName", new File(logDir, "cc.log"))
+                        .addAttribute("filePattern", new File(logDir, "cc-%d{MM-dd-yy}.log.gz")).add(defaultLayout)
                         .addComponent(triggeringPolicy);
         builder.add(defaultRoll);
 
@@ -60,8 +61,8 @@
 
         LayoutComponentBuilder accessLayout = builder.newLayout("PatternLayout").addAttribute("pattern", "%m%n");
         AppenderComponentBuilder accessRoll =
-                builder.newAppender("access", "RollingFile").addAttribute("fileName", logDir + "access.log")
-                        .addAttribute("filePattern", logDir + "access-%d{MM-dd-yy}.log.gz").add(accessLayout)
+                builder.newAppender("access", "RollingFile").addAttribute("fileName", new File(logDir, "access.log"))
+                        .addAttribute("filePattern", new File(logDir, "access-%d{MM-dd-yy}.log.gz")).add(accessLayout)
                         .addComponent(triggeringPolicy);
         builder.add(accessRoll);
         builder.add(builder.newLogger("org.apache.hyracks.http.server.CLFLogger", Level.forName("ACCESS", 550))
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/ControllerConfig.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/ControllerConfig.java
index 65c7ca5..07e61ba 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/ControllerConfig.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-control/hyracks-control-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/control/common/controllers/ControllerConfig.java
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@
         LOG_DIR(
                 OptionTypes.STRING,
                 (Function<IApplicationConfig, String>) appConfig -> FileUtil
-                        .joinPath(appConfig.getString(ControllerConfig.Option.DEFAULT_DIR), "logs/"),
+                        .joinPath(appConfig.getString(ControllerConfig.Option.DEFAULT_DIR), "logs"),
                 "The directory where logs for this node are written");
 
         private final IOptionType type;
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-http/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/http/server/CLFLogger.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-http/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/http/server/CLFLogger.java
index 70f861c..4732d71 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-http/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/http/server/CLFLogger.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-http/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/http/server/CLFLogger.java
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
 public class CLFLogger extends ChannelDuplexHandler {
 
     private static final Logger accessLogger = LogManager.getLogger();
-    private static final String ACCESS_LOG_LEVEL = "ACCESS";
+    private static final Level ACCESS_LOG_LEVEL = Level.forName("ACCESS", 550);
     private static final DateTimeFormatter DATE_TIME_FORMATTER =
             DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("dd/MMM/yyyy:HH:mm:ss Z").withZone(ZoneId.systemDefault());
     private StringBuilder logLineBuilder;
@@ -116,6 +116,9 @@
     }
 
     private void printAndPrepare() {
+        if (!accessLogger.isEnabled(ACCESS_LOG_LEVEL)) {
+            return;
+        }
         logLineBuilder.append(clientIp);
         //identd value - not relevant here
         logLineBuilder.append(" - ");
@@ -128,7 +131,7 @@
         logLineBuilder.append(" ").append(statusCode);
         logLineBuilder.append(" ").append(respSize);
         logLineBuilder.append(" ").append(userAgentRef);
-        accessLogger.log(Level.forName(ACCESS_LOG_LEVEL, 550), logLineBuilder.toString());
+        accessLogger.log(ACCESS_LOG_LEVEL, logLineBuilder);
         respSize = 0;
         logLineBuilder.setLength(0);
     }
diff --git a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-http/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/http/server/HttpServer.java b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-http/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/http/server/HttpServer.java
index 343faa4..1a5c2fa 100644
--- a/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-http/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/http/server/HttpServer.java
+++ b/hyracks-fullstack/hyracks/hyracks-http/src/main/java/org/apache/hyracks/http/server/HttpServer.java
@@ -100,7 +100,6 @@
         this.workerGroup = workerGroup;
         this.port = port;
         this.closedHandler = closeHandler;
-        InternalLoggerFactory.setDefaultFactory(Log4J2LoggerFactory.INSTANCE);
         this.config = config;
         ctx = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
         servlets = new ArrayList<>();