diff --git a/sos/report/plugins/logs.py b/sos/report/plugins/logs.py
index 8414503fa5..62de03a5f3 100644
--- a/sos/report/plugins/logs.py
+++ b/sos/report/plugins/logs.py
@@ -17,6 +17,12 @@ class LogsBase(Plugin):
     plugin_name = "logs"
     profiles = ('system', 'hardware', 'storage')
 
+    # The default journal output is syslog-compatible, but it's much
+    # more useful to have the systemd unit.  Related prior art:
+    # https://github.com/openshift/installer/pull/7371/commits/948df48aada21e47e9bb0d0a53366871aa21b40a
+    # https://github.com/coreos/coreos-assembler/commit/c931fe0e9aa6b7c20c8279fdce3b6ef448eac8b8
+    default_format = "with-unit"
+
     def setup(self):
         confs = ['/etc/syslog.conf', '/etc/rsyslog.conf']
         logs = []
@@ -64,11 +70,13 @@ def setup(self):
                        for p in ["/var", "/run"]])
         if journal and self.is_service("systemd-journald"):
             self.add_journal(since=since, tags=['journal_full', 'journal_all'],
-                             priority=100)
+                             priority=100, output=self.default_format)
             self.add_journal(boot="this", since=since,
-                             tags='journal_since_boot')
+                             tags='journal_since_boot',
+                             output=self.default_format)
             self.add_journal(boot="last", since=since,
-                             tags='journal_last_boot')
+                             tags='journal_last_boot',
+                             output=self.default_format)
             if self.get_option("all_logs"):
                 self.add_copy_spec([
                     "/var/log/journal/*",
diff --git a/tests/report_tests/plugin_tests/logs.py b/tests/report_tests/plugin_tests/logs.py
index 49f1c5928e..f1dbe67d4e 100644
--- a/tests/report_tests/plugin_tests/logs.py
+++ b/tests/report_tests/plugin_tests/logs.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ class LogsPluginTest(StageOneReportTest):
 
     def test_journalctl_collections(self):
         self.assertFileCollected('sos_commands/logs/journalctl_--disk-usage')
-        self.assertFileCollected('sos_commands/logs/journalctl_--no-pager_--boot')
+        self.assertFileCollected('sos_commands/logs/journalctl_-o_with-unit_--no-pager_--boot')
 
     def test_journal_runtime_collected(self):
         self.assertFileGlobInArchive('/var/log/journal/*')
@@ -70,13 +70,13 @@ def pre_sos_setup(self):
             sosfd.write(rand[::-1] + '\n')
 
     def test_journal_size_limit(self):
-        journ = 'sos_commands/logs/journalctl_--no-pager'
+        journ = 'sos_commands/logs/journalctl_-o_with-unit_--no-pager'
         self.assertFileCollected(journ)
         jsize = os.stat(self.get_name_in_archive(journ)).st_size
         assert jsize <= 20971520, "Collected journal is larger than 20MB (size: %s)" % jsize
 
     def test_journal_tailed_and_linked(self):
-        tailed = self.get_name_in_archive('sos_strings/logs/journalctl_--no-pager.tailed')
+        tailed = self.get_name_in_archive('sos_strings/logs/journalctl_-o_with-unit_--no-pager.tailed')
         self.assertFileExists(tailed)
-        journ = self.get_name_in_archive('sos_commands/logs/journalctl_--no-pager')
+        journ = self.get_name_in_archive('sos_commands/logs/journalctl_-o_with-unit_--no-pager')
         assert os.path.islink(journ), "Journal in sos_commands/logs is not a symlink"