diff --git a/cloud-hypervisor/src/logger.rs b/cloud-hypervisor/src/logger.rs
index 145af208b..594a07423 100644
--- a/cloud-hypervisor/src/logger.rs
+++ b/cloud-hypervisor/src/logger.rs
@@ -144,3 +144,207 @@ impl log::Log for Logger {
 
     fn flush(&self) {}
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use std::io;
+    use std::sync::Arc;
+
+    use log::Log;
+
+    use super::*;
+
+    /// A `Write` sink that appends to a shared byte buffer so tests can
+    /// inspect what the logger wrote.
+    #[derive(Clone, Default)]
+    struct SharedBuffer(Arc<Mutex<Vec<u8>>>);
+
+    impl SharedBuffer {
+        fn contents(&self) -> String {
+            String::from_utf8(self.0.lock().unwrap().clone()).unwrap()
+        }
+    }
+
+    impl Write for SharedBuffer {
+        fn write(&mut self, buf: &[u8]) -> io::Result<usize> {
+            self.0.lock().unwrap().extend_from_slice(buf);
+            Ok(buf.len())
+        }
+
+        fn flush(&mut self) -> io::Result<()> {
+            Ok(())
+        }
+    }
+
+    fn render(tokens: &[Token]) -> String {
+        tokens
+            .iter()
+            .map(|t| match t {
+                Token::Literal(s) => format!("L({s})"),
+                Token::BootTime => "B".to_string(),
+                Token::Thread => "T".to_string(),
+                Token::Level => "V".to_string(),
+                Token::Location => "O".to_string(),
+                Token::Msg => "M".to_string(),
+            })
+            .collect::<Vec<_>>()
+            .join("|")
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_plain_literal() {
+        let tokens = parse_format("hello world").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(render(&tokens), "L(hello world)");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_empty_string() {
+        let tokens = parse_format("").unwrap();
+        assert!(tokens.is_empty());
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_all_known_tokens() {
+        let tokens = parse_format("[{boottime}] <{thread}> {level} {location} -- {msg}").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(render(&tokens), "L([)|B|L(] <)|T|L(> )|V|L( )|O|L( -- )|M");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_default_format_succeeds() {
+        let tokens = parse_format(DEFAULT_FORMAT).unwrap();
+        // Default format has 5 tokens interleaved with literals.
+        assert!(tokens.iter().any(|t| matches!(t, Token::BootTime)));
+        assert!(tokens.iter().any(|t| matches!(t, Token::Thread)));
+        assert!(tokens.iter().any(|t| matches!(t, Token::Level)));
+        assert!(tokens.iter().any(|t| matches!(t, Token::Location)));
+        assert!(tokens.iter().any(|t| matches!(t, Token::Msg)));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_escaped_braces() {
+        let tokens = parse_format("{{not-a-token}}").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(render(&tokens), "L({not-a-token})");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_escaped_braces_around_token() {
+        let tokens = parse_format("{{{level}}}").unwrap();
+        assert_eq!(render(&tokens), "L({)|V|L(})");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_unterminated_brace_errors() {
+        match parse_format("hello {level") {
+            Err(Error::UnterminatedBrace) => {}
+            Err(other) => panic!("unexpected error: {other:?}"),
+            Ok(_) => panic!("expected error"),
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_unmatched_close_brace_errors() {
+        match parse_format("hello }") {
+            Err(Error::UnmatchedBrace) => {}
+            Err(other) => panic!("unexpected error: {other:?}"),
+            Ok(_) => panic!("expected error"),
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn parse_unknown_token_errors() {
+        match parse_format("{nope}") {
+            Err(Error::UnknownToken(name)) => assert_eq!(name, "nope"),
+            Err(other) => panic!("unexpected error: {other:?}"),
+            Ok(_) => panic!("expected error"),
+        }
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn logger_new_uses_default_format() {
+        let buf = SharedBuffer::default();
+        let logger = Logger::new(Box::new(buf.clone())).unwrap();
+        // The default format has all 5 dynamic tokens.
+        assert_eq!(
+            logger
+                .tokens
+                .iter()
+                .filter(|t| !matches!(t, Token::Literal(_)))
+                .count(),
+            5
+        );
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn logger_enabled_always_true() {
+        let buf = SharedBuffer::default();
+        let logger = Logger::new(Box::new(buf)).unwrap();
+        let metadata = log::Metadata::builder()
+            .level(log::Level::Trace)
+            .target("anything")
+            .build();
+        assert!(logger.enabled(&metadata));
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn logger_writes_expected_fields() {
+        let buf = SharedBuffer::default();
+        let logger = Logger::new(Box::new(buf.clone())).unwrap();
+
+        logger.log(
+            &log::Record::builder()
+                .args(format_args!("hello {}", "world"))
+                .level(log::Level::Info)
+                .target("unit_test_target")
+                .file(Some("foo.rs"))
+                .line(Some(42))
+                .build(),
+        );
+
+        let out = buf.contents();
+        assert!(out.starts_with("cloud-hypervisor: "), "got: {out}");
+        assert!(out.contains("INFO"), "got: {out}");
+        assert!(out.contains("foo.rs:42"), "got: {out}");
+        assert!(out.contains("hello world"), "got: {out}");
+        assert!(out.ends_with("\r\n"), "got: {out}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn logger_uses_target_when_no_file() {
+        let buf = SharedBuffer::default();
+        let logger = Logger::new(Box::new(buf.clone())).unwrap();
+
+        logger.log(
+            &log::Record::builder()
+                .args(format_args!("no location"))
+                .level(log::Level::Warn)
+                .target("my_target")
+                .file(None)
+                .line(None)
+                .build(),
+        );
+
+        let out = buf.contents();
+        assert!(out.contains("my_target"), "got: {out}");
+        assert!(!out.contains("foo.rs"), "got: {out}");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn logger_appends_each_record() {
+        let buf = SharedBuffer::default();
+        let logger = Logger::new(Box::new(buf.clone())).unwrap();
+
+        for i in 0..3 {
+            logger.log(
+                &log::Record::builder()
+                    .args(format_args!("entry-{i}"))
+                    .level(log::Level::Debug)
+                    .target("t")
+                    .build(),
+            );
+        }
+
+        let out = buf.contents();
+        assert_eq!(out.matches("entry-").count(), 3, "got: {out}");
+        assert_eq!(out.matches("\r\n").count(), 3, "got: {out}");
+    }
+}