diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/log_verbosity.yml b/changelogs/fragments/log_verbosity.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3e67aac8d94
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/log_verbosity.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+minor_changes:
+  - User can now set ansible.log to record higher verbosity than what is specified for display via new configuration item LOG_VERBOSITY.
diff --git a/lib/ansible/config/base.yml b/lib/ansible/config/base.yml
index 29136350e70..a6130b58bba 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/config/base.yml
+++ b/lib/ansible/config/base.yml
@@ -385,6 +385,15 @@ LOCALHOST_WARNING:
   - {key: localhost_warning, section: defaults}
   type: boolean
   version_added: "2.6"
+LOG_VERBOSITY:
+  name: Default log verbosity
+  description:
+    - This will set log verbosity if higher than the normal display verbosity, otherwise it will match that.
+  env: [{name: ANSIBLE_LOG_VERBOSITY}]
+  ini:
+  - {key: log_verbosity, section: defaults}
+  type: int
+  version_added: "2.17"
 INVENTORY_UNPARSED_WARNING:
   name: Warning when no inventory files can be parsed, resulting in an implicit inventory with only localhost
   default: True
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
index 9754397efa9..eca906e5be5 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/connection/ssh.py
@@ -747,8 +747,8 @@ class Connection(ConnectionBase):
                 self._add_args(b_command, b_args, u'disable batch mode for sshpass')
             b_command += [b'-b', b'-']
 
-        if display.verbosity > 3:
-            b_command.append(b'-vvv')
+        if display.verbosity:
+            b_command.append(b'-' + (b'v' * display.verbosity))
 
         # Next, we add ssh_args
         ssh_args = self.get_option('ssh_args')
diff --git a/lib/ansible/utils/display.py b/lib/ansible/utils/display.py
index 3f331ad8e73..7abacf023fe 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/utils/display.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/utils/display.py
@@ -283,6 +283,11 @@ class Display(metaclass=Singleton):
         self.columns = None
         self.verbosity = verbosity
 
+        if C.LOG_VERBOSITY is None:
+            self.log_verbosity = verbosity
+        else:
+            self.log_verbosity = max(verbosity, C.LOG_VERBOSITY)
+
         # list of all deprecation messages to prevent duplicate display
         self._deprecations: dict[str, int] = {}
         self._warns: dict[str, int] = {}
@@ -412,7 +417,13 @@ class Display(metaclass=Singleton):
             #         raise
 
         if logger and not screen_only:
-            msg2 = nocolor.lstrip('\n')
+            self._log(nocolor, color)
+
+    @proxy_display
+    def _log(self, msg: str, color: str | None = None, caplevel: int = 0):
+
+        if self.log_verbosity > caplevel:
+            msg2 = msg.lstrip('\n')
 
             lvl = logging.INFO
             if color:
@@ -458,6 +469,11 @@ class Display(metaclass=Singleton):
                 self.display(msg, color=C.COLOR_VERBOSE, stderr=to_stderr)
             else:
                 self.display("<%s> %s" % (host, msg), color=C.COLOR_VERBOSE, stderr=to_stderr)
+        elif self.log_verbosity > self.verbosity and self.log_verbosity > caplevel:
+            # we send to log if log was configured with higher verbosity
+            if host is not None:
+                msg = "<%s> %s" % (host, msg)
+            self._log(msg, C.COLOR_VERBOSE, caplevel)
 
     def get_deprecation_message(
         self,