diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/Manager.h b/fairmq/shmem/Manager.h
index a1dd4322..08e63fec 100644
--- a/fairmq/shmem/Manager.h
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/Manager.h
@@ -227,8 +227,15 @@ class Manager
 
             boost::filesystem::path p = boost::process::search_path("fairmq-shmmonitor", ownPath);
 
+            bool verbose = false;
+            if (const char* verboseEnv = getenv("FAIRMQ_SHMMONITOR_VERBOSE")) {
+                if (std::string(verboseEnv) == "true") {
+                    verbose = true;
+                }
+            }
+
             if (!p.empty()) {
-                boost::process::spawn(p, "-x", "-m", "--shmid", id, "-d", "-t", "2000", env);
+                boost::process::spawn(p, "-x", "-m", "--shmid", id, "-d", "-t", "2000", verbose ? "--verbose" : "", env);
                 int numTries = 0;
                 do {
                     try {
diff --git a/fairmq/shmem/runMonitor.cxx b/fairmq/shmem/runMonitor.cxx
index c83e67f7..bc197782 100644
--- a/fairmq/shmem/runMonitor.cxx
+++ b/fairmq/shmem/runMonitor.cxx
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
         bool debug = false;
         bool cleanOnExit = false;
         bool getShmId = false;
+        bool verbose = false;
         int userId = -1;
 
         options_description desc("Options");
@@ -103,6 +104,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
             ("clean-on-exit,e", value<bool>(&cleanOnExit)->implicit_value(true),        "Perform cleanup on exit")
             ("interval"       , value<unsigned int>(&intervalInMS)->default_value(100), "Output interval for interactive mode")
             ("get-shmid"      , value<bool>(&getShmId)->implicit_value(true),           "Translate given session id and user id to a shmem id (uses current user id if none provided)")
+            ("verbose"        , value<bool>(&verbose)->implicit_value(true),            "Verbose mode (daemon will output to a file 'fairmq-shmmonitor_log_<timestamp>')")
             ("user-id"        , value<int>(&userId)->default_value(-1),                 "User id (used with --get-shmid)")
             ("help,h",                                                                  "Print help");
 
@@ -117,6 +119,9 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
         notify(vm);
 
         if (runAsDaemon) {
+            if (verbose) {
+                fair::Logger::InitFileSink("trace", "fairmq-shmmonitor_log");
+            }
             daemonize();
         }