diff --git a/functional/rpcpb/member.go b/functional/rpcpb/member.go
index 5b400bdc9..930c371c7 100644
--- a/functional/rpcpb/member.go
+++ b/functional/rpcpb/member.go
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import (
 	"go.etcd.io/etcd/clientv3"
 	"go.etcd.io/etcd/clientv3/snapshot"
 	pb "go.etcd.io/etcd/etcdserver/etcdserverpb"
+	"go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/logutil"
 	"go.etcd.io/etcd/pkg/transport"
 
 	"github.com/dustin/go-humanize"
@@ -94,10 +95,19 @@ func (m *Member) CreateEtcdClientConfig(opts ...grpc.DialOption) (cfg *clientv3.
 		}
 	}
 
+	// TODO: make this configurable
+	level := "error"
+	if os.Getenv("ETCD_CLIENT_DEBUG") != "" {
+		level = "debug"
+	}
+	lcfg := logutil.DefaultZapLoggerConfig
+	lcfg.Level = zap.NewAtomicLevelAt(logutil.ConvertToZapLevel(level))
+
 	cfg = &clientv3.Config{
 		Endpoints:   []string{m.EtcdClientEndpoint},
 		DialTimeout: 10 * time.Second,
 		DialOptions: opts,
+		LogConfig:   &lcfg,
 	}
 	if secure {
 		// assume save TLS assets are already stord on disk