diff --git a/IPython/config/tests/test_application.py b/IPython/config/tests/test_application.py
index 97225d4..4269776 100644
--- a/IPython/config/tests/test_application.py
+++ b/IPython/config/tests/test_application.py
@@ -18,8 +18,11 @@ Authors:
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 import logging
+from io import StringIO
 from unittest import TestCase
 
+import nose.tools as nt
+
 from IPython.config.configurable import Configurable
 from IPython.config.loader import Config
 
@@ -80,6 +83,16 @@ class MyApp(Application):
 
 class TestApplication(TestCase):
 
+    def test_log(self):
+        stream = StringIO()
+        app = MyApp(log_level=logging.INFO)
+        handler = logging.StreamHandler(stream)
+        # trigger reconstruction of the log formatter
+        app.log.handlers = [handler]
+        app.log_format = "%(message)s"
+        app.log.info("hello")
+        nt.assert_in("hello", stream.getvalue())
+
     def test_basic(self):
         app = MyApp()
         self.assertEqual(app.name, u'myapp')