diff --git a/rowbot b/rowbot
index cd1d499..456375f 100755
--- a/rowbot
+++ b/rowbot
@@ -6,31 +6,6 @@
 
 shopt -s nullglob dotglob extglob
 
-###
-# utilities
-###
-
-parent() {
-  (( BASHPID == $$ ))
-}
-
-has() {
-  hash "$1" 2>/dev/null
-}
-
-die() {
-  local status=1
-
-  if (( $# > 1 )) && [[ $1 = -s ]]; then
-    status=$2
-    shift
-    shift
-  fi
-
-  error "$@"
-  exit "$status"
-}
-
 ###
 # logger
 ###
@@ -62,6 +37,43 @@ error() {
   LEVEL=error log "$@"
 }
 
+###
+# utilities
+###
+
+parent() {
+  (( BASHPID == $$ ))
+}
+
+has() {
+  hash "$1" 2>/dev/null
+}
+
+die() {
+  local status=1
+
+  if (( $# > 1 )) && [[ $1 = -s ]]; then
+    status=$2
+    shift
+    shift
+  fi
+
+  error "$@"
+  exit "$status"
+}
+
+is-log-level() {
+  local level
+
+  for level in "${!levels[@]}"; do
+    if [[ ${1,,} = "$level" ]]; then
+      return 0
+    fi
+  done
+
+  return 1
+}
+
 ###
 # argument parser for parsing arguments
 ##
@@ -126,6 +138,16 @@ if [[ -v opts[tls] ]]; then
   tls=${opts[tls]}
 fi
 
+# This is a false positive.
+# shellcheck disable=SC2102
+if [[ -v opts[level] ]]; then
+  if is-log-level "${opts[level]}"; then
+    level=${opts[level],,}
+  else
+    die "%s is not a valid logging level" "${opts[level]}"
+  fi
+fi
+
 if [[ $tls = yes ]]; then
   # This is a false positive.
   # shellcheck disable=SC2102
@@ -140,8 +162,7 @@ fi
 
 config=(
   server port nick ident realname chan trigger
-  fact_root reload dev level log owner sys_root
-  reload
+  fact_root reload dev log owner sys_root reload
 )
 
 for opt in "${config[@]}"; do
@@ -685,8 +706,12 @@ hook_cmd_control_panel() {
     exec "$0" --reload "${original_args[@]}"
     ;;
   level)
-    level=${action_args[0]}
-    privmsg "$to" "log level is now set to $level"
+    if is-log-level "${action_args[0]}"; then
+      level=${action_args[0],,}
+      privmsg "$to" "log level is now set to $level"
+    else
+      privmsg "$to" "${action_args[0]} is not a valid logging level"
+    fi
     ;;
   dev)
     if [[ $dev = yes ]]; then