diff --git a/include/linux/kernel.h b/include/linux/kernel.h
index 066bb1eddfea..1b2e1747df1a 100644
--- a/include/linux/kernel.h
+++ b/include/linux/kernel.h
@@ -97,6 +97,8 @@ extern const char linux_proc_banner[];
 #define	KERN_INFO	"<6>"	/* informational			*/
 #define	KERN_DEBUG	"<7>"	/* debug-level messages			*/
 
+/* Use the default kernel loglevel */
+#define KERN_DEFAULT	"<d>"
 /*
  * Annotation for a "continued" line of log printout (only done after a
  * line that had no enclosing \n). Only to be used by core/arch code
diff --git a/kernel/printk.c b/kernel/printk.c
index a87770ce73a2..b4d97b54c1ec 100644
--- a/kernel/printk.c
+++ b/kernel/printk.c
@@ -696,6 +696,8 @@ asmlinkage int vprintk(const char *fmt, va_list args)
 			switch (c) {
 			case '0' ... '7': /* loglevel */
 				current_log_level = c - '0';
+			/* Fallthrough - make sure we're on a new line */
+			case 'd': /* KERN_DEFAULT */
 				if (!new_text_line) {
 					emit_log_char('\n');
 					new_text_line = 1;