diff --git a/esphome/log.py b/esphome/log.py
index 835cd6b44d..516f27be45 100644
--- a/esphome/log.py
+++ b/esphome/log.py
@@ -74,13 +74,14 @@ def setup_log(
 
     colorama.init()
 
-    if log_level == logging.DEBUG:
-        CORE.verbose = True
-    elif log_level == logging.CRITICAL:
-        CORE.quiet = True
-
+    # Setup logging - will map log level from string to constant
     logging.basicConfig(level=log_level)
 
+    if logging.root.level == logging.DEBUG:
+        CORE.verbose = True
+    elif logging.root.level == logging.CRITICAL:
+        CORE.quiet = True
+
     logging.getLogger("urllib3").setLevel(logging.WARNING)
 
     logging.getLogger().handlers[0].setFormatter(