diff --git a/internal/dnsforward/dnsforward.go b/internal/dnsforward/dnsforward.go
index d05a0d44..9ae6fc69 100644
--- a/internal/dnsforward/dnsforward.go
+++ b/internal/dnsforward/dnsforward.go
@@ -205,7 +205,10 @@ type DNSCreateParams struct {
 	PrivateNets netutil.SubnetSet
 	Anonymizer  *aghnet.IPMut
 	EtcHosts    *aghnet.HostsContainer
-	Logger      *slog.Logger
+
+	// Logger is used as a base logger.  It must not be nil.
+	Logger *slog.Logger
+
 	LocalDomain string
 }
 
@@ -236,18 +239,13 @@ func NewServer(p DNSCreateParams) (s *Server, err error) {
 		etcHosts = upstream.NewHostsResolver(p.EtcHosts)
 	}
 
-	l := p.Logger
-	if l == nil {
-		l = slog.Default()
-	}
-
 	s = &Server{
 		dnsFilter:   p.DNSFilter,
 		dhcpServer:  p.DHCPServer,
 		stats:       p.Stats,
 		queryLog:    p.QueryLog,
 		privateNets: p.PrivateNets,
-		logger:      l.With(slogutil.KeyPrefix, "dnsforward"),
+		logger:      p.Logger.With(slogutil.KeyPrefix, "dnsforward"),
 		// TODO(e.burkov):  Use some case-insensitive string comparison.
 		localDomainSuffix: strings.ToLower(localDomainSuffix),
 		etcHosts:          etcHosts,
diff --git a/internal/dnsforward/dnsforward_test.go b/internal/dnsforward/dnsforward_test.go
index 9e4942cc..c326f8aa 100644
--- a/internal/dnsforward/dnsforward_test.go
+++ b/internal/dnsforward/dnsforward_test.go
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/internal/filtering/safesearch"
 	"github.com/AdguardTeam/dnsproxy/proxy"
 	"github.com/AdguardTeam/dnsproxy/upstream"
+	"github.com/AdguardTeam/golibs/logutil/slogutil"
 	"github.com/AdguardTeam/golibs/netutil"
 	"github.com/AdguardTeam/golibs/testutil"
 	"github.com/AdguardTeam/golibs/timeutil"
@@ -99,6 +100,7 @@ func createTestServer(
 		DHCPServer:  dhcp,
 		DNSFilter:   f,
 		PrivateNets: netutil.SubnetSetFunc(netutil.IsLocallyServed),
+		Logger:      slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
 	})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
@@ -339,7 +341,10 @@ func TestServer_timeout(t *testing.T) {
 			ServePlainDNS: true,
 		}
 
-		s, err := NewServer(DNSCreateParams{DNSFilter: createTestDNSFilter(t)})
+		s, err := NewServer(DNSCreateParams{
+			DNSFilter: createTestDNSFilter(t),
+			Logger:    slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
+		})
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
 		err = s.Prepare(srvConf)
@@ -349,7 +354,10 @@ func TestServer_timeout(t *testing.T) {
 	})
 
 	t.Run("default", func(t *testing.T) {
-		s, err := NewServer(DNSCreateParams{DNSFilter: createTestDNSFilter(t)})
+		s, err := NewServer(DNSCreateParams{
+			DNSFilter: createTestDNSFilter(t),
+			Logger:    slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
+		})
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
 		s.conf.Config.UpstreamMode = UpstreamModeLoadBalance
@@ -376,7 +384,9 @@ func TestServer_Prepare_fallbacks(t *testing.T) {
 		ServePlainDNS: true,
 	}
 
-	s, err := NewServer(DNSCreateParams{})
+	s, err := NewServer(DNSCreateParams{
+		Logger: slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
+	})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	err = s.Prepare(srvConf)
@@ -962,6 +972,7 @@ func TestBlockedCustomIP(t *testing.T) {
 		DHCPServer:  dhcp,
 		DNSFilter:   f,
 		PrivateNets: netutil.SubnetSetFunc(netutil.IsLocallyServed),
+		Logger:      slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
 	})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
@@ -1127,6 +1138,7 @@ func TestRewrite(t *testing.T) {
 		DHCPServer:  dhcp,
 		DNSFilter:   f,
 		PrivateNets: netutil.SubnetSetFunc(netutil.IsLocallyServed),
+		Logger:      slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
 	})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
@@ -1256,6 +1268,7 @@ func TestPTRResponseFromDHCPLeases(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 		},
 		PrivateNets: netutil.SubnetSetFunc(netutil.IsLocallyServed),
+		Logger:      slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
 		LocalDomain: localDomain,
 	})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
@@ -1341,6 +1354,7 @@ func TestPTRResponseFromHosts(t *testing.T) {
 		DHCPServer:  dhcp,
 		DNSFilter:   flt,
 		PrivateNets: netutil.SubnetSetFunc(netutil.IsLocallyServed),
+		Logger:      slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
 	})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
@@ -1392,24 +1406,29 @@ func TestNewServer(t *testing.T) {
 		in         DNSCreateParams
 		wantErrMsg string
 	}{{
-		name:       "success",
-		in:         DNSCreateParams{},
+		name: "success",
+		in: DNSCreateParams{
+			Logger: slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
+		},
 		wantErrMsg: "",
 	}, {
 		name: "success_local_tld",
 		in: DNSCreateParams{
+			Logger:      slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
 			LocalDomain: "mynet",
 		},
 		wantErrMsg: "",
 	}, {
 		name: "success_local_domain",
 		in: DNSCreateParams{
+			Logger:      slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
 			LocalDomain: "my.local.net",
 		},
 		wantErrMsg: "",
 	}, {
 		name: "bad_local_domain",
 		in: DNSCreateParams{
+			Logger:      slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
 			LocalDomain: "!!!",
 		},
 		wantErrMsg: `local domain: bad domain name "!!!": ` +
diff --git a/internal/dnsforward/filter_test.go b/internal/dnsforward/filter_test.go
index 9e172a32..57d265f7 100644
--- a/internal/dnsforward/filter_test.go
+++ b/internal/dnsforward/filter_test.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/AdguardTeam/AdGuardHome/internal/filtering"
 	"github.com/AdguardTeam/dnsproxy/proxy"
 	"github.com/AdguardTeam/dnsproxy/upstream"
+	"github.com/AdguardTeam/golibs/logutil/slogutil"
 	"github.com/AdguardTeam/golibs/netutil"
 	"github.com/miekg/dns"
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ func TestHandleDNSRequest_handleDNSRequest(t *testing.T) {
 		},
 		DNSFilter:   f,
 		PrivateNets: netutil.SubnetSetFunc(netutil.IsLocallyServed),
+		Logger:      slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
 	})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
@@ -229,6 +231,7 @@ func TestHandleDNSRequest_filterDNSResponse(t *testing.T) {
 		DHCPServer:  &testDHCP{},
 		DNSFilter:   f,
 		PrivateNets: netutil.SubnetSetFunc(netutil.IsLocallyServed),
+		Logger:      slogutil.NewDiscardLogger(),
 	})
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
diff --git a/internal/home/home.go b/internal/home/home.go
index 74ca6583..82a50083 100644
--- a/internal/home/home.go
+++ b/internal/home/home.go
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@ func run(opts options, clientBuildFS fs.FS, done chan struct{}) {
 	fatalOnError(err)
 
 	// TODO(a.garipov): Use slog everywhere.
-	l := initLogger(ls)
+	slogLogger := newSlogLogger(ls)
 
 	// Print the first message after logger is configured.
 	log.Info(version.Full())
@@ -568,7 +568,7 @@ func run(opts options, clientBuildFS fs.FS, done chan struct{}) {
 		log.Info("AdGuard Home is running as a service")
 	}
 
-	err = setupContext(opts, l)
+	err = setupContext(opts, slogLogger)
 	fatalOnError(err)
 
 	err = configureOS(config)
diff --git a/internal/home/log.go b/internal/home/log.go
index 13b3aa53..0b3a14a8 100644
--- a/internal/home/log.go
+++ b/internal/home/log.go
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ import (
 // for logger output.
 const configSyslog = "syslog"
 
-// initLogger returns new [*slog.Logger] configured with the given settings.
-func initLogger(ls *logSettings) (l *slog.Logger) {
+// newSlogLogger returns new [*slog.Logger] configured with the given settings.
+func newSlogLogger(ls *logSettings) (l *slog.Logger) {
 	if !ls.Enabled {
 		return slogutil.NewDiscardLogger()
 	}
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ func configureLogger(ls *logSettings) (err error) {
 
 	// Write logs to stdout by default.
 	if ls.File == "" {
-		return err
+		return nil
 	}
 
 	if ls.File == configSyslog {