diff --git a/ifupdown2/ifupdown/argv.py b/ifupdown2/ifupdown/argv.py
index 4e1da40..e560b40 100644
--- a/ifupdown2/ifupdown/argv.py
+++ b/ifupdown2/ifupdown/argv.py
@@ -148,6 +148,13 @@ class Parse:
                                help='type of interface entry (iface or vlan). '
                                     'This option can be used in case of ambiguity between '
                                     'a vlan interface and an iface interface of the same name')
+        argparser.add_argument(
+            "--nldebug",
+            dest="nldebug",
+            action="store_true",
+            default=False,
+            help="print netlink debug messages"
+        )
 
     def update_ifupdown_argparser(self, argparser):
         """ common arg parser for ifup and ifdown """
diff --git a/ifupdown2/ifupdown/ifupdownmain.py b/ifupdown2/ifupdown/ifupdownmain.py
index b6afe58..01163e2 100644
--- a/ifupdown2/ifupdown/ifupdownmain.py
+++ b/ifupdown2/ifupdown/ifupdownmain.py
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ class ifupdownMain:
     def link_exists(self, ifacename):
         return os.path.exists('/sys/class/net/%s' %ifacename)
 
-    def __init__(self, config={},
+    def __init__(self, config={}, args=None,
                  daemon=False, force=False, dryrun=False, nowait=False,
                  perfmode=False, withdepends=False, njobs=1,
                  cache=False, addons_enable=True, statemanager_enable=True,
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ class ifupdownMain:
             self.reset_ifupdown2()
         else:
             # init nlcache with appropriate log level
-            nlcache.NetlinkListenerWithCache.init(logging.root.level)
+            nlcache.NetlinkListenerWithCache.init(logging.DEBUG if args.nldebug else logging.WARNING)
 
             # start netlink listener and cache link/addr/netconf dumps
             nlcache.NetlinkListenerWithCache.get_instance().start()
diff --git a/ifupdown2/ifupdown/main.py b/ifupdown2/ifupdown/main.py
index 7847ba1..f33a0f0 100644
--- a/ifupdown2/ifupdown/main.py
+++ b/ifupdown2/ifupdown/main.py
@@ -159,7 +159,7 @@ class Ifupdown2:
             log.debug('creating ifupdown object ..')
             cachearg = (False if (iflist or args.nocache or args.noact)
                         else True)
-            ifupdown_handle = ifupdownMain(daemon=self.daemon,
+            ifupdown_handle = ifupdownMain(daemon=self.daemon, args=args,
                                                                  config=configmap_g,
                                                                  force=args.force,
                                                                  withdepends=args.withdepends,
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ class Ifupdown2:
         try:
             iflist = args.iflist
             log.debug('creating ifupdown object ..')
-            ifupdown_handle = ifupdownMain(daemon=self.daemon,
+            ifupdown_handle = ifupdownMain(daemon=self.daemon, args=args,
                                                                  config=configmap_g, force=args.force,
                                                                  withdepends=args.withdepends,
                                                                  perfmode=args.perfmode,
@@ -239,7 +239,7 @@ class Ifupdown2:
                 iflist = [i for i in os.listdir('/sys/class/net/')
                           if os.path.isdir('/sys/class/net/%s' % i)]
             log.debug('creating ifupdown object ..')
-            ifupdown_handle = ifupdownMain(daemon=self.daemon,
+            ifupdown_handle = ifupdownMain(daemon=self.daemon, args=args,
                                                                  config=configmap_g,
                                                                  withdepends=args.withdepends,
                                                                  perfmode=args.perfmode,
@@ -263,7 +263,7 @@ class Ifupdown2:
 
         try:
             log.debug('creating ifupdown object ..')
-            ifupdown_handle = ifupdownMain(daemon=self.daemon,
+            ifupdown_handle = ifupdownMain(daemon=self.daemon, args=args,
                                                                  config=configmap_g,
                                                                  interfacesfile=self.interfaces_filename,
                                                                  withdepends=args.withdepends,