diff --git a/compiler/rustc_driver_impl/src/lib.rs b/compiler/rustc_driver_impl/src/lib.rs
index 54a331a490444..0cd9e36a92771 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_driver_impl/src/lib.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_driver_impl/src/lib.rs
@@ -1500,13 +1500,31 @@ pub fn init_rustc_env_logger(early_dcx: &EarlyDiagCtxt) {
 
 /// This allows tools to enable rust logging without having to magically match rustc's
 /// tracing crate version. In contrast to `init_rustc_env_logger` it allows you to choose
-/// the values directly rather than having to set an environment variable.
+/// the logger config directly rather than having to set an environment variable.
 pub fn init_logger(early_dcx: &EarlyDiagCtxt, cfg: rustc_log::LoggerConfig) {
     if let Err(error) = rustc_log::init_logger(cfg) {
         early_dcx.early_fatal(error.to_string());
     }
 }
 
+/// This allows tools to enable rust logging without having to magically match rustc's
+/// tracing crate version. In contrast to `init_rustc_env_logger`, it allows you to
+/// choose the logger config directly rather than having to set an environment variable.
+/// Moreover, in contrast to `init_logger`, it allows you to add a custom tracing layer
+/// via `build_subscriber`, for example `|| Registry::default().with(custom_layer)`.
+pub fn init_logger_with_additional_layer<F, T>(
+    early_dcx: &EarlyDiagCtxt,
+    cfg: rustc_log::LoggerConfig,
+    build_subscriber: F,
+) where
+    F: FnOnce() -> T,
+    T: rustc_log::BuildSubscriberRet,
+{
+    if let Err(error) = rustc_log::init_logger_with_additional_layer(cfg, build_subscriber) {
+        early_dcx.early_fatal(error.to_string());
+    }
+}
+
 /// Install our usual `ctrlc` handler, which sets [`rustc_const_eval::CTRL_C_RECEIVED`].
 /// Making this handler optional lets tools can install a different handler, if they wish.
 pub fn install_ctrlc_handler() {
diff --git a/compiler/rustc_log/src/lib.rs b/compiler/rustc_log/src/lib.rs
index 1bb502ca3d062..df648bbd48951 100644
--- a/compiler/rustc_log/src/lib.rs
+++ b/compiler/rustc_log/src/lib.rs
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ use tracing_subscriber::filter::{Directive, EnvFilter, LevelFilter};
 use tracing_subscriber::fmt::FmtContext;
 use tracing_subscriber::fmt::format::{self, FormatEvent, FormatFields};
 use tracing_subscriber::layer::SubscriberExt;
+use tracing_subscriber::{Layer, Registry};
 
 /// The values of all the environment variables that matter for configuring a logger.
 /// Errors are explicitly preserved so that we can share error handling.
@@ -72,6 +73,36 @@ impl LoggerConfig {
 
 /// Initialize the logger with the given values for the filter, coloring, and other options env variables.
 pub fn init_logger(cfg: LoggerConfig) -> Result<(), Error> {
+    init_logger_with_additional_layer(cfg, || Registry::default())
+}
+
+/// Trait alias for the complex return type of `build_subscriber` in
+/// [init_logger_with_additional_layer]. A [Registry] with any composition of [tracing::Subscriber]s
+/// (e.g. `Registry::default().with(custom_layer)`) should be compatible with this type.
+/// Having an alias is also useful so rustc_driver_impl does not need to explicitly depend on
+/// `tracing_subscriber`.
+pub trait BuildSubscriberRet:
+    tracing::Subscriber + for<'span> tracing_subscriber::registry::LookupSpan<'span> + Send + Sync
+{
+}
+
+impl<
+    T: tracing::Subscriber + for<'span> tracing_subscriber::registry::LookupSpan<'span> + Send + Sync,
+> BuildSubscriberRet for T
+{
+}
+
+/// Initialize the logger with the given values for the filter, coloring, and other options env variables.
+/// Additionally add a custom layer to collect logging and tracing events via `build_subscriber`,
+/// for example: `|| Registry::default().with(custom_layer)`.
+pub fn init_logger_with_additional_layer<F, T>(
+    cfg: LoggerConfig,
+    build_subscriber: F,
+) -> Result<(), Error>
+where
+    F: FnOnce() -> T,
+    T: BuildSubscriberRet,
+{
     let filter = match cfg.filter {
         Ok(env) => EnvFilter::new(env),
         _ => EnvFilter::default().add_directive(Directive::from(LevelFilter::WARN)),
@@ -124,7 +155,7 @@ pub fn init_logger(cfg: LoggerConfig) -> Result<(), Error> {
         Err(_) => {} // no wraptree
     }
 
-    let subscriber = tracing_subscriber::Registry::default().with(filter).with(layer);
+    let subscriber = build_subscriber().with(layer.with_filter(filter));
     match cfg.backtrace {
         Ok(backtrace_target) => {
             let fmt_layer = tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer()