diff --git a/src/common/logging_helpers.py b/src/common/logging_helpers.py
index 476736007..d8f73bf65 100644
--- a/src/common/logging_helpers.py
+++ b/src/common/logging_helpers.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ def parseLogLevel(arg):
     """
     if arg.isdigit():
         return int(arg)
-    elif arg.isupper():
+    elif arg.isupper() and hasattr(logging, arg):
         return getattr(logging, arg)
     else:
         print _('%s is not a valid loglevel') % repr(arg)