diff --git a/simapp/simd/cmd/root.go b/simapp/simd/cmd/root.go
index 847a31f21168..d9a81a9973f7 100644
--- a/simapp/simd/cmd/root.go
+++ b/simapp/simd/cmd/root.go
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ func Execute(rootCmd *cobra.Command) error {
 	ctx = context.WithValue(ctx, server.ServerContextKey, srvCtx)
 
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().String(flags.FlagLogLevel, zerolog.InfoLevel.String(), "The logging level (trace|debug|info|warn|error|fatal|panic)")
-	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().String(flags.FlagLogFormat, tmcfg.LogFormatJSON, "The logging format (json|plain)")
+	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().String(flags.FlagLogFormat, tmcfg.LogFormatPlain, "The logging format (json|plain)")
 
 	executor := tmcli.PrepareBaseCmd(rootCmd, "", simapp.DefaultNodeHome)
 	return executor.ExecuteContext(ctx)