diff --git a/cmd/geth/logtestcmd_active.go b/cmd/geth/logtestcmd_active.go
index 4addec0ac7..315e9af780 100644
--- a/cmd/geth/logtestcmd_active.go
+++ b/cmd/geth/logtestcmd_active.go
@@ -23,9 +23,11 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
 	"math/big"
+	"os"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/common"
+	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/internal/debug"
 	"github.com/ethereum/go-ethereum/log"
 	"github.com/holiman/uint256"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
@@ -49,6 +51,11 @@ func (c customQuotedStringer) String() string {
 // logTest is an entry point which spits out some logs. This is used by testing
 // to verify expected outputs
 func logTest(ctx *cli.Context) error {
+	// if log is set to output terminal format, reset root logger to clear field padding map
+	if !ctx.IsSet(debug.LogFormatFlag.Name) || ctx.String(debug.LogFormatFlag.Name) == "terminal" {
+		log.SetDefault(log.NewLogger(log.TerminalHandler(os.Stdout, false)))
+	}
+
 	{ // big.Int
 		ba, _ := new(big.Int).SetString("111222333444555678999", 10)    // "111,222,333,444,555,678,999"
 		bb, _ := new(big.Int).SetString("-111222333444555678999", 10)   // "-111,222,333,444,555,678,999"
diff --git a/internal/debug/flags.go b/internal/debug/flags.go
index 796821160e..45eb4af679 100644
--- a/internal/debug/flags.go
+++ b/internal/debug/flags.go
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ var (
 		Hidden:   true,
 		Category: flags.LoggingCategory,
 	}
-	logFormatFlag = &cli.StringFlag{
+	LogFormatFlag = &cli.StringFlag{
 		Name:     "log.format",
 		Usage:    "Log format to use (json|logfmt|terminal)",
 		Category: flags.LoggingCategory,
@@ -151,7 +151,7 @@ var Flags = []cli.Flag{
 	logVmoduleFlag,
 	vmoduleFlag,
 	logjsonFlag,
-	logFormatFlag,
+	LogFormatFlag,
 	logFileFlag,
 	logRotateFlag,
 	logMaxSizeMBsFlag,
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ func Setup(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 		fileOutput     io.Writer
 		terminalOutput = io.Writer(os.Stderr)
 		output         io.Writer
-		logFmtFlag     = ctx.String(logFormatFlag.Name)
+		logFmtFlag     = ctx.String(LogFormatFlag.Name)
 	)
 	var (
 		logFile  = ctx.String(logFileFlag.Name)
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ func Setup(ctx *cli.Context) error {
 		handler = log.TerminalHandler(output, useColor)
 	default:
 		// Unknown log format specified
-		return fmt.Errorf("unknown log format: %v", ctx.String(logFormatFlag.Name))
+		return fmt.Errorf("unknown log format: %v", ctx.String(LogFormatFlag.Name))
 	}
 
 	glogger = log.NewGlogHandler(handler)