diff --git a/DOCS/client-api-changes.rst b/DOCS/client-api-changes.rst
index 851f3e917c..8943855f13 100644
--- a/DOCS/client-api-changes.rst
+++ b/DOCS/client-api-changes.rst
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ API changes
 
  1.6    - modify "core-idle" property behavior
         - MPV_EVENT_LOG_MESSAGE now always sends complete lines
+        - introduce numeric log levels (mpv_log_level)
  --- mpv 0.6.0 is released ---
  1.5    - change in X11 and "--wid" behavior again. The previous change didn't
           work as expected, and now the behavior can be explicitly controlled
diff --git a/common/msg.c b/common/msg.c
index f59c7bdc88..9ca7da9479 100644
--- a/common/msg.c
+++ b/common/msg.c
@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@
 #include "osdep/io.h"
 #include "osdep/timer.h"
 
+#include "libmpv/client.h"
+
 #include "msg.h"
 #include "msg_control.h"
 
@@ -600,6 +602,18 @@ const char *const mp_log_levels[MSGL_MAX + 1] = {
     [MSGL_STATS]        = "stats",
 };
 
+const int const mp_mpv_log_levels[MSGL_MAX + 1] = {
+    [MSGL_FATAL]        = MPV_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL,
+    [MSGL_ERR]          = MPV_LOG_LEVEL_ERROR,
+    [MSGL_WARN]         = MPV_LOG_LEVEL_WARN,
+    [MSGL_INFO]         = MPV_LOG_LEVEL_INFO,
+    [MSGL_STATUS]       = 0, // never used
+    [MSGL_V]            = MPV_LOG_LEVEL_V,
+    [MSGL_DEBUG]        = MPV_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG,
+    [MSGL_TRACE]        = MPV_LOG_LEVEL_TRACE,
+    [MSGL_STATS]        = 0, // never used
+};
+
 int mp_msg_split_msglevel(struct bstr *s, struct bstr *out_mod, int *out_level)
 {
     if (s->len == 0)
diff --git a/common/msg_control.h b/common/msg_control.h
index f659d180b2..cd2cefa249 100644
--- a/common/msg_control.h
+++ b/common/msg_control.h
@@ -32,5 +32,6 @@ struct bstr;
 int mp_msg_split_msglevel(struct bstr *s, struct bstr *out_mod, int *out_level);
 
 extern const char *const mp_log_levels[MSGL_MAX + 1];
+extern const int const mp_mpv_log_levels[MSGL_MAX + 1];
 
 #endif
diff --git a/libmpv/client.h b/libmpv/client.h
index 98164ce813..9b2d67edd2 100644
--- a/libmpv/client.h
+++ b/libmpv/client.h
@@ -1030,6 +1030,23 @@ typedef struct mpv_event_property {
     void *data;
 } mpv_event_property;
 
+/**
+ * Numeric log levels. The lower the number, the more important the message is.
+ * MPV_LOG_LEVEL_NONE is never used when receiving messages. The string in
+ * the comment after the value is the name of the log level as used for the
+ * mpv_request_log_messages() function.
+ */
+typedef enum mpv_log_level {
+    MPV_LOG_LEVEL_NONE  = 0,    /// "no"    - disable absolutely all messages
+    MPV_LOG_LEVEL_FATAL = 10,   /// "fatal" - critical/aborting errors
+    MPV_LOG_LEVEL_ERROR = 20,   /// "error" - simple errors
+    MPV_LOG_LEVEL_WARN  = 30,   /// "warn"  - possible problems
+    MPV_LOG_LEVEL_INFO  = 40,   /// "info"  - informational message
+    MPV_LOG_LEVEL_V     = 50,   /// "v"     - noisy informational message
+    MPV_LOG_LEVEL_DEBUG = 60,   /// "debug" - very noisy technical information
+    MPV_LOG_LEVEL_TRACE = 70,   /// "trace" - extremely noisy
+} mpv_log_level;
+
 typedef struct mpv_event_log_message {
     /**
      * The module prefix, identifies the sender of the message. As a special
@@ -1040,7 +1057,7 @@ typedef struct mpv_event_log_message {
     const char *prefix;
     /**
      * The log level as string. See mpv_request_log_messages() for possible
-     * values.
+     * values. The level "no" is never used here.
      */
     const char *level;
     /**
@@ -1049,6 +1066,11 @@ typedef struct mpv_event_log_message {
      * or partial lines.)
      */
     const char *text;
+    /**
+     * The same contents as the level field, but as a numeric ID.
+     * Since API version 1.6.
+     */
+    mpv_log_level log_level;
 } mpv_event_log_message;
 
 typedef struct mpv_event_end_file {
@@ -1146,6 +1168,7 @@ int mpv_request_event(mpv_handle *ctx, mpv_event_id event, int enable);
  * @param min_level Minimal log level as string. Valid log levels:
  *                      no fatal error warn info status v debug trace
  *                  The value "no" disables all messages. This is the default.
+ *                  Also see mpv_log_level.
  */
 int mpv_request_log_messages(mpv_handle *ctx, const char *min_level);
 
diff --git a/player/client.c b/player/client.c
index a7700fbd1c..f64f0bd976 100644
--- a/player/client.c
+++ b/player/client.c
@@ -654,6 +654,7 @@ mpv_event *mpv_wait_event(mpv_handle *ctx, double timeout)
                 *cmsg = (struct mpv_event_log_message){
                     .prefix = talloc_steal(event, msg->prefix),
                     .level = mp_log_levels[msg->level],
+                    .log_level = mp_mpv_log_levels[msg->level],
                     .text = talloc_steal(event, msg->text),
                 };
                 event->data = cmsg;