diff --git a/src/init.cpp b/src/init.cpp
index ccaa09a85ed..c0eb746d7b7 100644
--- a/src/init.cpp
+++ b/src/init.cpp
@@ -963,24 +963,18 @@ bool AppInitParameterInteraction()
         if (std::none_of(categories.begin(), categories.end(),
             [](std::string cat){return cat == "0" || cat == "none";})) {
             for (const auto& cat : categories) {
-                uint32_t flag = 0;
-                if (!GetLogCategory(&flag, &cat)) {
+                if (!g_logger->EnableCategory(cat)) {
                     InitWarning(strprintf(_("Unsupported logging category %s=%s."), "-debug", cat));
-                    continue;
                 }
-                g_logger->EnableCategory(static_cast<BCLog::LogFlags>(flag));
             }
         }
     }
 
     // Now remove the logging categories which were explicitly excluded
     for (const std::string& cat : gArgs.GetArgs("-debugexclude")) {
-        uint32_t flag = 0;
-        if (!GetLogCategory(&flag, &cat)) {
+        if (!g_logger->DisableCategory(cat)) {
             InitWarning(strprintf(_("Unsupported logging category %s=%s."), "-debugexclude", cat));
-            continue;
         }
-        g_logger->DisableCategory(static_cast<BCLog::LogFlags>(flag));
     }
 
     // Check for -debugnet
diff --git a/src/logging.cpp b/src/logging.cpp
index 7604c0fd941..dc1ed0afb61 100644
--- a/src/logging.cpp
+++ b/src/logging.cpp
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 
 #include <logging.h>
 #include <util.h>
-#include <utilstrencodings.h>
 
 const char * const DEFAULT_DEBUGLOGFILE = "debug.log";
 
@@ -64,11 +63,27 @@ void BCLog::Logger::EnableCategory(BCLog::LogFlags flag)
     logCategories |= flag;
 }
 
+bool BCLog::Logger::EnableCategory(const std::string& str)
+{
+    BCLog::LogFlags flag;
+    if (!GetLogCategory(flag, str)) return false;
+    EnableCategory(flag);
+    return true;
+}
+
 void BCLog::Logger::DisableCategory(BCLog::LogFlags flag)
 {
     logCategories &= ~flag;
 }
 
+bool BCLog::Logger::DisableCategory(const std::string& str)
+{
+    BCLog::LogFlags flag;
+    if (!GetLogCategory(flag, str)) return false;
+    DisableCategory(flag);
+    return true;
+}
+
 bool BCLog::Logger::WillLogCategory(BCLog::LogFlags category) const
 {
     return (logCategories.load(std::memory_order_relaxed) & category) != 0;
@@ -81,7 +96,7 @@ bool BCLog::Logger::DefaultShrinkDebugFile() const
 
 struct CLogCategoryDesc
 {
-    uint32_t flag;
+    BCLog::LogFlags flag;
     std::string category;
 };
 
@@ -114,19 +129,17 @@ const CLogCategoryDesc LogCategories[] =
     {BCLog::ALL, "all"},
 };
 
-bool GetLogCategory(uint32_t *f, const std::string *str)
+bool GetLogCategory(BCLog::LogFlags& flag, const std::string& str)
 {
-    if (f && str) {
-        if (*str == "") {
-            *f = BCLog::ALL;
+    if (str == "") {
+        flag = BCLog::ALL;
+        return true;
+    }
+    for (const CLogCategoryDesc& category_desc : LogCategories) {
+        if (category_desc.category == str) {
+            flag = category_desc.flag;
             return true;
         }
-        for (unsigned int i = 0; i < ARRAYLEN(LogCategories); i++) {
-            if (LogCategories[i].category == *str) {
-                *f = LogCategories[i].flag;
-                return true;
-            }
-        }
     }
     return false;
 }
@@ -135,11 +148,11 @@ std::string ListLogCategories()
 {
     std::string ret;
     int outcount = 0;
-    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < ARRAYLEN(LogCategories); i++) {
+    for (const CLogCategoryDesc& category_desc : LogCategories) {
         // Omit the special cases.
-        if (LogCategories[i].flag != BCLog::NONE && LogCategories[i].flag != BCLog::ALL) {
+        if (category_desc.flag != BCLog::NONE && category_desc.flag != BCLog::ALL) {
             if (outcount != 0) ret += ", ";
-            ret += LogCategories[i].category;
+            ret += category_desc.category;
             outcount++;
         }
     }
@@ -149,12 +162,12 @@ std::string ListLogCategories()
 std::vector<CLogCategoryActive> ListActiveLogCategories()
 {
     std::vector<CLogCategoryActive> ret;
-    for (unsigned int i = 0; i < ARRAYLEN(LogCategories); i++) {
+    for (const CLogCategoryDesc& category_desc : LogCategories) {
         // Omit the special cases.
-        if (LogCategories[i].flag != BCLog::NONE && LogCategories[i].flag != BCLog::ALL) {
+        if (category_desc.flag != BCLog::NONE && category_desc.flag != BCLog::ALL) {
             CLogCategoryActive catActive;
-            catActive.category = LogCategories[i].category;
-            catActive.active = LogAcceptCategory(LogCategories[i].flag);
+            catActive.category = category_desc.category;
+            catActive.active = LogAcceptCategory(category_desc.flag);
             ret.push_back(catActive);
         }
     }
diff --git a/src/logging.h b/src/logging.h
index 7a1c25233ad..b88c9d9919f 100644
--- a/src/logging.h
+++ b/src/logging.h
@@ -95,8 +95,12 @@ namespace BCLog {
         void ShrinkDebugFile();
 
         uint32_t GetCategoryMask() const { return logCategories.load(); }
+
         void EnableCategory(LogFlags flag);
+        bool EnableCategory(const std::string& str);
         void DisableCategory(LogFlags flag);
+        bool DisableCategory(const std::string& str);
+
         bool WillLogCategory(LogFlags category) const;
 
         bool DefaultShrinkDebugFile() const;
@@ -118,8 +122,8 @@ std::string ListLogCategories();
 /** Returns a vector of the active log categories. */
 std::vector<CLogCategoryActive> ListActiveLogCategories();
 
-/** Return true if str parses as a log category and set the flags in f */
-bool GetLogCategory(uint32_t *f, const std::string *str);
+/** Return true if str parses as a log category and set the flag */
+bool GetLogCategory(BCLog::LogFlags& flag, const std::string& str);
 
 /** Get format string from VA_ARGS for error reporting */
 template<typename... Args> std::string FormatStringFromLogArgs(const char *fmt, const Args&... args) { return fmt; }
diff --git a/src/rpc/misc.cpp b/src/rpc/misc.cpp
index 26bf21356e5..0c93108bcec 100644
--- a/src/rpc/misc.cpp
+++ b/src/rpc/misc.cpp
@@ -349,18 +349,17 @@ UniValue getmemoryinfo(const JSONRPCRequest& request)
 void EnableOrDisableLogCategories(UniValue cats, bool enable) {
     cats = cats.get_array();
     for (unsigned int i = 0; i < cats.size(); ++i) {
-        uint32_t flag = 0;
         std::string cat = cats[i].get_str();
-        if (!GetLogCategory(&flag, &cat)) {
-            throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_PARAMETER, "unknown logging category " + cat);
-        }
-        if (flag == BCLog::NONE) {
-            return;
-        }
+
+        bool success;
         if (enable) {
-            g_logger->EnableCategory(static_cast<BCLog::LogFlags>(flag));
+            success = g_logger->EnableCategory(cat);
         } else {
-            g_logger->DisableCategory(static_cast<BCLog::LogFlags>(flag));
+            success = g_logger->DisableCategory(cat);
+        }
+
+        if (!success) {
+            throw JSONRPCError(RPC_INVALID_PARAMETER, "unknown logging category " + cat);
         }
     }
 }