diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 919cb1c..8552ce6 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -28,5 +28,11 @@
               'singer-tools'
           ]
       },
-      packages=find_packages(),
+      packages=['singer'],
+      package_data={
+          'singer': [
+              'logging.conf'
+          ]
+      },
+      include_package_data=True
       )
diff --git a/singer/logger.py b/singer/logger.py
index 909fdc5..2453eb9 100644
--- a/singer/logger.py
+++ b/singer/logger.py
@@ -5,8 +5,14 @@
 
 def get_logger(name='singer'):
     """Return a Logger instance to use in singer."""
+    # Use custom logging config provided by environment variable
     if 'LOGGING_CONF_FILE' in os.environ and os.environ['LOGGING_CONF_FILE']:
         path = os.environ['LOGGING_CONF_FILE']
         logging.config.fileConfig(path, disable_existing_loggers=False)
+    # Use the default logging conf that meets the singer specs criteria
+    else:
+        this_dir, _ = os.path.split(__file__)
+        path = os.path.join(this_dir, 'logging.conf')
+        logging.config.fileConfig(path, disable_existing_loggers=False)
 
     return logging.getLogger(name)
diff --git a/singer/logging.conf b/singer/logging.conf
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b9a0b7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/singer/logging.conf
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+[loggers]
+keys=root
+
+[handlers]
+keys=stderr
+
+[formatters]
+keys=child
+
+[logger_root]
+level=INFO
+handlers=stderr
+formatter=child
+propagate=0
+
+[handler_stderr]
+level=INFO
+class=StreamHandler
+formatter=child
+args=(sys.stderr,)
+
+[formatter_child]
+class=logging.Formatter
+format=time=%(asctime)s name=%(name)s level=%(levelname)s message=%(message)s
+datefmt=%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S