diff --git a/crates/arroyo-rpc/src/config.rs b/crates/arroyo-rpc/src/config.rs
index 931405ab7..8a525434e 100644
--- a/crates/arroyo-rpc/src/config.rs
+++ b/crates/arroyo-rpc/src/config.rs
@@ -629,6 +629,10 @@ pub struct LogConfig {
     /// Set the log format
     #[serde(default)]
     pub format: LogFormat,
+
+    /// Nonblocking logging may reduce tail latency at the cost of higher memory usage
+    #[serde(default)]
+    pub nonblocking: bool,
 }
 
 #[derive(Debug, Clone, Deserialize, Serialize, Default)]
diff --git a/crates/arroyo-server-common/src/lib.rs b/crates/arroyo-server-common/src/lib.rs
index 44394f1d4..3fceff0d2 100644
--- a/crates/arroyo-server-common/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/arroyo-server-common/src/lib.rs
@@ -38,8 +38,9 @@ use tracing_subscriber::EnvFilter;
 use tracing_subscriber::Registry;
 
 use arroyo_rpc::config::{config, LogFormat};
-use tracing_appender::non_blocking::WorkerGuard;
+use tracing_appender::non_blocking::{NonBlockingBuilder, WorkerGuard};
 use tracing_log::LogTracer;
+use tracing_subscriber::fmt::FormatFields;
 use uuid::Uuid;
 
 pub const BUILD_TIMESTAMP: &str = env!("VERGEN_BUILD_TIMESTAMP");
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ pub const VERSION: &str = "0.12.0-dev";
 
 static CLUSTER_ID: OnceCell<String> = OnceCell::new();
 
-pub fn init_logging(name: &str) -> WorkerGuard {
+pub fn init_logging(name: &str) -> Option<WorkerGuard> {
     init_logging_with_filter(
         name,
         EnvFilter::builder()
@@ -57,7 +58,24 @@ pub fn init_logging(name: &str) -> WorkerGuard {
     )
 }
 
-pub fn init_logging_with_filter(_name: &str, filter: EnvFilter) -> WorkerGuard {
+macro_rules! register_log {
+    ($e: expr, $nonblocking: expr, $filter: expr) => {{
+        let layer = $e;
+        if let Some(nonblocking) = $nonblocking {
+            tracing::subscriber::set_global_default(
+                Registry::default().with(layer.with_writer(nonblocking).with_filter($filter)),
+            )
+            .expect("Unable to set global log subscriber")
+        } else {
+            tracing::subscriber::set_global_default(
+                Registry::default().with(layer.with_writer(std::io::stderr).with_filter($filter)),
+            )
+            .expect("Unable to set global log subscriber")
+        }
+    }};
+}
+
+pub fn init_logging_with_filter(_name: &str, filter: EnvFilter) -> Option<WorkerGuard> {
     if let Err(e) = LogTracer::init() {
         eprintln!("Failed to initialize log tracer {:?}", e);
     }
@@ -66,44 +84,39 @@ pub fn init_logging_with_filter(_name: &str, filter: EnvFilter) -> WorkerGuard {
         .add_directive("refinery_core=warn".parse().unwrap())
         .add_directive("aws_config::profile::credentials=warn".parse().unwrap());
 
-    let (nonblocking, guard) = tracing_appender::non_blocking(std::io::stderr());
+    let (nonblocking, guard) = if config().logging.nonblocking {
+        let (nonblocking, guard) = tracing_appender::non_blocking(std::io::stderr());
+        (Some(nonblocking), Some(guard))
+    } else {
+        (None, None)
+    };
 
     match config().logging.format {
         LogFormat::Plaintext => {
-            tracing::subscriber::set_global_default(
-                Registry::default().with(
-                    tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer()
-                        .with_line_number(false)
-                        .with_file(false)
-                        .with_span_events(FmtSpan::NONE)
-                        .with_writer(nonblocking)
-                        .with_filter(filter),
-                ),
+            register_log!(
+                tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer()
+                    .with_line_number(false)
+                    .with_file(false)
+                    .with_span_events(FmtSpan::NONE),
+                nonblocking,
+                filter
             )
-            .expect("Unable to set global log subscriber");
         }
         LogFormat::Logfmt => {
-            tracing::subscriber::set_global_default(
-                Registry::default().with(
-                    tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer()
-                        .event_format(tracing_logfmt::EventsFormatter)
-                        .fmt_fields(tracing_logfmt::FieldsFormatter)
-                        .with_writer(nonblocking)
-                        .with_filter(filter),
-                ),
+            register_log!(
+                tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer()
+                    .event_format(tracing_logfmt::EventsFormatter)
+                    .fmt_fields(tracing_logfmt::FieldsFormatter),
+                nonblocking,
+                filter
             )
-            .expect("Unable to set global log subscriber");
         }
         LogFormat::Json => {
-            tracing::subscriber::set_global_default(
-                Registry::default().with(
-                    tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer()
-                        .event_format(Format::default().json())
-                        .with_writer(nonblocking)
-                        .with_filter(filter),
-                ),
+            register_log!(
+                tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer().event_format(Format::default().json()),
+                nonblocking,
+                filter
             )
-            .expect("Unable to set global log subscriber");
         }
     }