diff --git a/cmd/utils/flags.go b/cmd/utils/flags.go
index da2814855a..9f72c8c6ed 100644
--- a/cmd/utils/flags.go
+++ b/cmd/utils/flags.go
@@ -1930,6 +1930,19 @@ func RegisterEthService(stack *node.Node, cfg *ethconfig.Config) (ethapi.Backend
 	if err != nil {
 		Fatalf("Failed to register the Ethereum service: %v", err)
 	}
+
+	// register the live tracer
+	if cfg.VMTrace != "" {
+		var traceConfig json.RawMessage
+		if cfg.VMTraceJsonConfig != "" {
+			traceConfig = json.RawMessage(cfg.VMTraceJsonConfig)
+		}
+		t, err := tracers.LiveDirectory.New(cfg.VMTrace, traceConfig)
+		if err != nil {
+			Fatalf("failed to create tracer %s: %v", cfg.VMTrace, err)
+		}
+		backend.BlockChain().SetLogger(t)
+	}
 	stack.RegisterAPIs(tracers.APIs(backend.APIBackend))
 	return backend.APIBackend, backend
 }