diff --git a/cmd/bootnode/main.go b/cmd/bootnode/main.go
index eaf91dc51a..eef90f2702 100644
--- a/cmd/bootnode/main.go
+++ b/cmd/bootnode/main.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func main() {
 		natdesc     = flag.String("nat", "none", "port mapping mechanism (any|none|upnp|pmp|extip:<IP>)")
 		netrestrict = flag.String("netrestrict", "", "restrict network communication to the given IP networks (CIDR masks)")
 		runv5       = flag.Bool("v5", false, "run a v5 topic discovery bootnode")
-		verbosity   = flag.Int("verbosity", int(log.LvlInfo), "log verbosity (0-9)")
+		verbosity   = flag.Int("verbosity", 3, "log verbosity (0-5)")
 		vmodule     = flag.String("vmodule", "", "log verbosity pattern")
 
 		nodeKey *ecdsa.PrivateKey
diff --git a/internal/debug/api.go b/internal/debug/api.go
index 8f1b60ddb3..9a5624e551 100644
--- a/internal/debug/api.go
+++ b/internal/debug/api.go
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ package debug
 import (
 	"errors"
 	"io"
-	"log/slog"
 	"os"
 	"os/user"
 	"path/filepath"
@@ -56,7 +55,7 @@ type HandlerT struct {
 // Verbosity sets the log verbosity ceiling. The verbosity of individual packages
 // and source files can be raised using Vmodule.
 func (*HandlerT) Verbosity(level int) {
-	glogger.Verbosity(slog.Level(level))
+	glogger.Verbosity(log.FromLegacyLevel(level))
 }
 
 // Vmodule sets the log verbosity pattern. See package log for details on the