diff --git a/doc/source/systemd.rst b/doc/source/systemd.rst
index efe79e4b0c..60a7719262 100644
--- a/doc/source/systemd.rst
+++ b/doc/source/systemd.rst
@@ -109,6 +109,17 @@ Use higher precision time stamps::
 
   journalctl -f -o short-precise --unit devstack@n-cpu.service
 
+By default, journalctl strips out "unprintable" characters, including
+ASCII color codes. To keep the color codes (which can be interpreted by
+an appropriate terminal/pager - e.g. ``less``, the default)::
+
+  journalctl -a --unit devstack@n-cpu.service
+
+When outputting to the terminal using the default pager, long lines
+appear to be truncated, but horizontal scrolling is supported via the
+left/right arrow keys.
+
+See ``man 1 journalctl`` for more.
 
 Known Issues
 ============
@@ -137,13 +148,6 @@ system units.
 Future Work
 ===========
 
-log colorizing
---------------
-
-We lose log colorization through this process. We might want to build
-a custom colorizer that we could run journalctl output through
-optionally for people.
-
 user units
 ----------
 
diff --git a/functions b/functions
index bc2d26b496..52a82faf0a 100644
--- a/functions
+++ b/functions
@@ -616,21 +616,18 @@ function setup_systemd_logging {
     # request-id. However, there may be an eventlet interaction here,
     # so going off for now.
     USE_JOURNAL=$(trueorfalse USE_JOURNAL False)
+    local pidstr=""
     if [[ "$USE_JOURNAL" == "True" ]]; then
         iniset $conf_file $conf_section use_journal "True"
         # if we are using the journal directly, our process id is already correct
-        iniset $conf_file $conf_section logging_debug_format_suffix \
-               "{{%(funcName)s %(pathname)s:%(lineno)d}}"
     else
-        iniset $conf_file $conf_section logging_debug_format_suffix \
-               "{{(pid=%(process)d) %(funcName)s %(pathname)s:%(lineno)d}}"
+        pidstr="(pid=%(process)d) "
     fi
+    iniset $conf_file $conf_section logging_debug_format_suffix "{{${pidstr}%(funcName)s %(pathname)s:%(lineno)d}}"
 
-    iniset $conf_file $conf_section logging_context_format_string \
-           "%(levelname)s %(name)s [%(request_id)s %(project_name)s %(user_name)s] %(instance)s%(message)s"
-    iniset $conf_file $conf_section logging_default_format_string \
-           "%(levelname)s %(name)s [-] %(instance)s%(color)s%(message)s"
-    iniset $conf_file $conf_section logging_exception_prefix "ERROR %(name)s %(instance)s"
+    iniset $conf_file $conf_section logging_context_format_string "%(color)s%(levelname)s %(name)s [%(request_id)s %(project_name)s %(user_name)s%(color)s] %(instance)s%(color)s%(message)s"
+    iniset $conf_file $conf_section logging_default_format_string "%(color)s%(levelname)s %(name)s [-%(color)s] %(instance)s%(color)s%(message)s"
+    iniset $conf_file $conf_section logging_exception_prefix "ERROR %(name)s %(instance)s"
 }
 
 function setup_standard_logging_identity {
diff --git a/stackrc b/stackrc
index ea1bcdf3f0..41ff268bbe 100644
--- a/stackrc
+++ b/stackrc
@@ -100,11 +100,9 @@ USER_UNITS=$(trueorfalse False USER_UNITS)
 if [[ "$USER_UNITS" == "True" ]]; then
     SYSTEMD_DIR="$HOME/.local/share/systemd/user"
     SYSTEMCTL="systemctl --user"
-    JOURNALCTL_F="journalctl -f -o short-precise --user-unit"
 else
     SYSTEMD_DIR="/etc/systemd/system"
     SYSTEMCTL="sudo systemctl"
-    JOURNALCTL_F="journalctl -f -o short-precise --unit"
 fi