diff --git a/DOCS/man/options.rst b/DOCS/man/options.rst
index c030bcc1b2..0109c5e019 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/options.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/options.rst
@@ -443,6 +443,11 @@ Program Behavior
     ``bestvideo+bestaudio``.
     (Default: ``best``)
 
+``--log-file=<path>``
+    Opens the given path for writing, and print log messages to it. Existing
+    files will be truncated. The log level always corresponds to ``-v``,
+    regardless of terminal verbosity levels.
+
 Video
 -----
 
diff --git a/common/msg.c b/common/msg.c
index e117589873..33c8d419df 100644
--- a/common/msg.c
+++ b/common/msg.c
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ struct mp_log_root {
     bool force_stderr;
     struct mp_log_buffer **buffers;
     int num_buffers;
+    FILE *log_file;
     FILE *stats_file;
     // --- semi-atomic access
     bool mute;
@@ -122,6 +123,8 @@ static void update_loglevel(struct mp_log *log)
     }
     for (int n = 0; n < log->root->num_buffers; n++)
         log->level = MPMAX(log->level, log->root->buffers[n]->level);
+    if (log->root->log_file)
+        log->level = MPMAX(log->level, MSGL_V);
     if (log->root->stats_file)
         log->level = MPMAX(log->level, MSGL_STATS);
     atomic_store(&log->reload_counter, atomic_load(&log->root->reload_counter));
@@ -278,6 +281,19 @@ static void print_terminal_line(struct mp_log *log, int lev, char *text)
     fflush(stream);
 }
 
+static void write_log_file(struct mp_log *log, int lev, char *text)
+{
+    struct mp_log_root *root = log->root;
+
+    if (lev > MSGL_V || !root->log_file)
+        return;
+
+    fprintf(root->log_file, "[%8.3f][%c][%s] %s",
+            (mp_time_us() - MP_START_TIME) / 1e6,
+            mp_log_levels[lev][0],
+            log->verbose_prefix, text);
+}
+
 static void write_msg_to_buffers(struct mp_log *log, int lev, char *text)
 {
     struct mp_log_root *root = log->root;
@@ -356,6 +372,7 @@ void mp_msg_va(struct mp_log *log, int lev, const char *format, va_list va)
             char saved = next[0];
             next[0] = '\0';
             print_terminal_line(log, lev, text);
+            write_log_file(log, lev, text);
             write_msg_to_buffers(log, lev, text);
             next[0] = saved;
             text = next;
@@ -461,6 +478,9 @@ void mp_msg_update_msglevels(struct mpv_global *global)
     talloc_free(root->msglevels);
     root->msglevels = talloc_strdup(root, global->opts->msglevels);
 
+    if (!root->log_file && opts->log_file && opts->log_file[0])
+        root->log_file = fopen(opts->log_file, "wb");
+
     atomic_fetch_add(&root->reload_counter, 1);
     pthread_mutex_unlock(&mp_msg_lock);
 }
@@ -484,6 +504,8 @@ void mp_msg_uninit(struct mpv_global *global)
     struct mp_log_root *root = global->log->root;
     if (root->stats_file)
         fclose(root->stats_file);
+    if (root->log_file)
+        fclose(root->log_file);
     talloc_free(root);
     global->log = NULL;
 }
diff --git a/options/options.c b/options/options.c
index 1748b3293c..1541f6f323 100644
--- a/options/options.c
+++ b/options/options.c
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ const m_option_t mp_opts[] = {
                 .type = &m_option_type_msglevels),
     OPT_STRING("dump-stats", dump_stats, CONF_GLOBAL | CONF_PRE_PARSE),
     OPT_FLAG("msg-color", msg_color, CONF_GLOBAL | CONF_PRE_PARSE),
+    OPT_STRING("log-file", log_file, CONF_GLOBAL | CONF_PRE_PARSE),
     OPT_FLAG("msg-module", msg_module, CONF_GLOBAL),
     OPT_FLAG("msg-time", msg_time, CONF_GLOBAL),
 #ifdef _WIN32
diff --git a/options/options.h b/options/options.h
index 00b4b588dd..8313ce1448 100644
--- a/options/options.h
+++ b/options/options.h
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ typedef struct MPOpts {
     int msg_color;
     int msg_module;
     int msg_time;
+    char *log_file;
 
     char **reset_options;
     char **script_files;
diff --git a/osdep/timer.c b/osdep/timer.c
index 123a78c850..7c57e1ef1c 100644
--- a/osdep/timer.c
+++ b/osdep/timer.c
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ static void do_timer_init(void)
     // Arbitrary additional offset to avoid confusing relative/absolute times.
     // Also,we rule that the timer never returns 0 (so default-initialized
     // time values will be always in the past).
-    raw_time_offset -= 10000000;
+    raw_time_offset -= MP_START_TIME;
 }
 
 void mp_time_init(void)
diff --git a/osdep/timer.h b/osdep/timer.h
index bc0e5252c9..2bef4130df 100644
--- a/osdep/timer.h
+++ b/osdep/timer.h
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ uint64_t mp_raw_time_us(void);
 // Sleep in microseconds.
 void mp_sleep_us(int64_t us);
 
+#define MP_START_TIME 10000000
+
 // Return the amount of time that has passed since the last call, in
 // microseconds. *t is used to calculate the time that has passed by storing
 // the current time in it. If *t is 0, the call will return 0. (So that the