diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index d311fba8d..e72ced7eb 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -5014,7 +5014,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "indoc",
  "insta",
  "itertools 0.14.0",
- "jiff",
  "miette",
  "nix 0.30.1",
  "owo-colors",
@@ -5063,6 +5062,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "uv-git-types",
  "uv-install-wheel",
  "uv-installer",
+ "uv-logging",
  "uv-normalize",
  "uv-pep440",
  "uv-pep508",
@@ -5184,8 +5184,11 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "uv-build"
 version = "0.8.13"
 dependencies = [
+ "anstream",
  "anyhow",
+ "tracing-subscriber",
  "uv-build-backend",
+ "uv-logging",
  "uv-version",
 ]
 
@@ -5838,6 +5841,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "zeroize",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "uv-logging"
+version = "0.0.1"
+dependencies = [
+ "jiff",
+ "owo-colors",
+ "tracing",
+ "tracing-subscriber",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "uv-macros"
 version = "0.0.1"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index fae199a2f..36b81d30e 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ uv-git-types = { path = "crates/uv-git-types" }
 uv-globfilter = { path = "crates/uv-globfilter" }
 uv-install-wheel = { path = "crates/uv-install-wheel", default-features = false }
 uv-installer = { path = "crates/uv-installer" }
+uv-logging = { path = "crates/uv-logging" }
 uv-macros = { path = "crates/uv-macros" }
 uv-metadata = { path = "crates/uv-metadata" }
 uv-normalize = { path = "crates/uv-normalize" }
@@ -180,7 +181,7 @@ toml = { version = "0.9.2", features = ["fast_hash"] }
 toml_edit = { version = "0.23.2", features = ["serde"] }
 tracing = { version = "0.1.40" }
 tracing-durations-export = { version = "0.3.0", features = ["plot"] }
-tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3.18", features = ["env-filter", "json", "registry"] }
+tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3.18" } # Default feature set for uv_build, uv activates extra features
 tracing-test = { version = "0.2.5" }
 tracing-tree = { version = "0.4.0" }
 unicode-width = { version = "0.2.0" }
diff --git a/crates/uv-build/Cargo.toml b/crates/uv-build/Cargo.toml
index 413a8603e..b3e13139d 100644
--- a/crates/uv-build/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/uv-build/Cargo.toml
@@ -11,9 +11,12 @@ license = { workspace = true }
 
 [dependencies]
 uv-build-backend = { workspace = true }
+uv-logging = { workspace = true }
 uv-version = { workspace = true }
 
+anstream = { workspace = true }
 anyhow = { workspace = true }
+tracing-subscriber = { workspace = true, features = ["env-filter"] }
 
 [lints]
 workspace = true
diff --git a/crates/uv-build/src/main.rs b/crates/uv-build/src/main.rs
index 4b9b5b3ee..5dd2ce160 100644
--- a/crates/uv-build/src/main.rs
+++ b/crates/uv-build/src/main.rs
@@ -1,10 +1,32 @@
-use anyhow::{Context, Result, bail};
 use std::env;
 use std::io::Write;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
 
+use anyhow::{Context, Result, bail};
+use tracing_subscriber::filter::LevelFilter;
+use tracing_subscriber::layer::SubscriberExt;
+use tracing_subscriber::util::SubscriberInitExt;
+use tracing_subscriber::{EnvFilter, Layer};
+
+use uv_logging::UvFormat;
+
 /// Entrypoint for the `uv-build` Python package.
 fn main() -> Result<()> {
+    // Support configuring the log level with `RUST_LOG` (shows only the error level by default) and
+    // color.
+    //
+    // This configuration is a simplified version of the uv logging configuration. When using
+    // uv_build through uv proper, the uv logging configuration applies.
+    let filter = EnvFilter::builder()
+        .with_default_directive(LevelFilter::OFF.into())
+        .from_env()
+        .context("Invalid RUST_LOG directives")?;
+    let stderr_layer = tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer()
+        .event_format(UvFormat::default())
+        .with_writer(std::sync::Mutex::new(anstream::stderr()))
+        .with_filter(filter);
+    tracing_subscriber::registry().with(stderr_layer).init();
+
     // Handrolled to avoid the large clap dependency
     let mut args = env::args_os();
     // Skip the name of the binary
diff --git a/crates/uv-dev/Cargo.toml b/crates/uv-dev/Cargo.toml
index 23b571c6f..8eb62ce61 100644
--- a/crates/uv-dev/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/uv-dev/Cargo.toml
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ tokio = { workspace = true }
 tokio-util = { workspace = true }
 tracing = { workspace = true }
 tracing-durations-export = { workspace = true, features = ["plot"] }
-tracing-subscriber = { workspace = true }
+tracing-subscriber = { workspace = true, features = ["env-filter"] }
 uv-performance-memory-allocator = { path = "../uv-performance-memory-allocator", optional = true }
 walkdir = { workspace = true }
 
diff --git a/crates/uv-logging/Cargo.toml b/crates/uv-logging/Cargo.toml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d660bf454
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/uv-logging/Cargo.toml
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+[package]
+name = "uv-logging"
+version = "0.0.1"
+edition = { workspace = true }
+rust-version = { workspace = true }
+homepage = { workspace = true }
+documentation = { workspace = true }
+repository = { workspace = true }
+authors = { workspace = true }
+license = { workspace = true }
+
+[lib]
+doctest = false
+
+[lints]
+workspace = true
+
+[dependencies]
+jiff = { workspace = true }
+owo-colors = { workspace = true }
+tracing-subscriber = { workspace = true }
+tracing = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/uv-logging/src/lib.rs b/crates/uv-logging/src/lib.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7d5aa1575
--- /dev/null
+++ b/crates/uv-logging/src/lib.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+use std::fmt;
+
+use jiff::Timestamp;
+use owo_colors::OwoColorize;
+use tracing::{Event, Subscriber};
+use tracing_subscriber::fmt::format::Writer;
+use tracing_subscriber::fmt::{FmtContext, FormatEvent, FormatFields};
+use tracing_subscriber::registry::LookupSpan;
+
+/// The style of a uv logging line.
+pub struct UvFormat {
+    pub display_timestamp: bool,
+    pub display_level: bool,
+    pub show_spans: bool,
+}
+
+impl Default for UvFormat {
+    /// Regardless of the tracing level, show messages without any adornment.
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            display_timestamp: false,
+            display_level: true,
+            show_spans: false,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+/// See <https://docs.rs/tracing-subscriber/0.3.18/src/tracing_subscriber/fmt/format/mod.rs.html#1026-1156>
+impl<S, N> FormatEvent<S, N> for UvFormat
+where
+    S: Subscriber + for<'a> LookupSpan<'a>,
+    N: for<'a> FormatFields<'a> + 'static,
+{
+    fn format_event(
+        &self,
+        ctx: &FmtContext<'_, S, N>,
+        mut writer: Writer<'_>,
+        event: &Event<'_>,
+    ) -> fmt::Result {
+        let meta = event.metadata();
+        let ansi = writer.has_ansi_escapes();
+
+        if self.display_timestamp {
+            if ansi {
+                write!(writer, "{} ", Timestamp::now().dimmed())?;
+            } else {
+                write!(writer, "{} ", Timestamp::now())?;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if self.display_level {
+            let level = meta.level();
+            // Same colors as tracing
+            if ansi {
+                match *level {
+                    tracing::Level::TRACE => write!(writer, "{} ", level.purple())?,
+                    tracing::Level::DEBUG => write!(writer, "{} ", level.blue())?,
+                    tracing::Level::INFO => write!(writer, "{} ", level.green())?,
+                    tracing::Level::WARN => write!(writer, "{} ", level.yellow())?,
+                    tracing::Level::ERROR => write!(writer, "{} ", level.red())?,
+                }
+            } else {
+                write!(writer, "{level} ")?;
+            }
+        }
+
+        if self.show_spans {
+            let span = event.parent();
+            let mut seen = false;
+
+            let span = span
+                .and_then(|id| ctx.span(id))
+                .or_else(|| ctx.lookup_current());
+
+            let scope = span.into_iter().flat_map(|span| span.scope().from_root());
+
+            for span in scope {
+                seen = true;
+                if ansi {
+                    write!(writer, "{}:", span.metadata().name().bold())?;
+                } else {
+                    write!(writer, "{}:", span.metadata().name())?;
+                }
+            }
+
+            if seen {
+                writer.write_char(' ')?;
+            }
+        }
+
+        ctx.field_format().format_fields(writer.by_ref(), event)?;
+
+        writeln!(writer)
+    }
+}
diff --git a/crates/uv/Cargo.toml b/crates/uv/Cargo.toml
index e71c587ed..e10a84e1f 100644
--- a/crates/uv/Cargo.toml
+++ b/crates/uv/Cargo.toml
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ uv-git = { workspace = true }
 uv-git-types = { workspace = true }
 uv-install-wheel = { workspace = true, default-features = false }
 uv-installer = { workspace = true }
+uv-logging = { workspace = true }
 uv-normalize = { workspace = true }
 uv-pep440 = { workspace = true }
 uv-pep508 = { workspace = true }
@@ -82,7 +83,6 @@ indicatif = { workspace = true }
 indoc = { workspace = true }
 itertools = { workspace = true }
 h2 = { workspace = true }
-jiff = { workspace = true }
 miette = { workspace = true, features = ["fancy-no-backtrace"] }
 owo-colors = { workspace = true }
 petgraph = { workspace = true }
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ toml = { workspace = true }
 toml_edit = { workspace = true }
 tracing = { workspace = true }
 tracing-durations-export = { workspace = true, features = ["plot"], optional = true }
-tracing-subscriber = { workspace = true, features = ["json"] }
+tracing-subscriber = { workspace = true, features = ["env-filter", "json", "registry"] }
 tracing-tree = { workspace = true }
 unicode-width = { workspace = true }
 url = { workspace = true }
diff --git a/crates/uv/src/logging.rs b/crates/uv/src/logging.rs
index d09cbc3f9..9654e3ab2 100644
--- a/crates/uv/src/logging.rs
+++ b/crates/uv/src/logging.rs
@@ -1,25 +1,19 @@
-use std::fmt;
 use std::str::FromStr;
 
 use anyhow::Context;
-use jiff::Timestamp;
-use owo_colors::OwoColorize;
-use tracing::{Event, Subscriber};
 #[cfg(feature = "tracing-durations-export")]
 use tracing_durations_export::{
     DurationsLayer, DurationsLayerBuilder, DurationsLayerDropGuard, plot::PlotConfig,
 };
 use tracing_subscriber::filter::Directive;
-use tracing_subscriber::fmt::format::Writer;
-use tracing_subscriber::fmt::{FmtContext, FormatEvent, FormatFields};
 use tracing_subscriber::layer::SubscriberExt;
-use tracing_subscriber::registry::LookupSpan;
 use tracing_subscriber::util::SubscriberInitExt;
 use tracing_subscriber::{EnvFilter, Layer, Registry};
 use tracing_tree::HierarchicalLayer;
 use tracing_tree::time::Uptime;
 
 use uv_cli::ColorChoice;
+use uv_logging::UvFormat;
 use uv_static::EnvVars;
 
 #[derive(Debug, Default, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
@@ -31,81 +25,6 @@ pub(crate) enum Level {
     TraceAll,
 }
 
-struct UvFormat {
-    display_timestamp: bool,
-    display_level: bool,
-    show_spans: bool,
-}
-
-/// See <https://docs.rs/tracing-subscriber/0.3.18/src/tracing_subscriber/fmt/format/mod.rs.html#1026-1156>
-impl<S, N> FormatEvent<S, N> for UvFormat
-where
-    S: Subscriber + for<'a> LookupSpan<'a>,
-    N: for<'a> FormatFields<'a> + 'static,
-{
-    fn format_event(
-        &self,
-        ctx: &FmtContext<'_, S, N>,
-        mut writer: Writer<'_>,
-        event: &Event<'_>,
-    ) -> fmt::Result {
-        let meta = event.metadata();
-        let ansi = writer.has_ansi_escapes();
-
-        if self.display_timestamp {
-            if ansi {
-                write!(writer, "{} ", Timestamp::now().dimmed())?;
-            } else {
-                write!(writer, "{} ", Timestamp::now())?;
-            }
-        }
-
-        if self.display_level {
-            let level = meta.level();
-            // Same colors as tracing
-            if ansi {
-                match *level {
-                    tracing::Level::TRACE => write!(writer, "{} ", level.purple())?,
-                    tracing::Level::DEBUG => write!(writer, "{} ", level.blue())?,
-                    tracing::Level::INFO => write!(writer, "{} ", level.green())?,
-                    tracing::Level::WARN => write!(writer, "{} ", level.yellow())?,
-                    tracing::Level::ERROR => write!(writer, "{} ", level.red())?,
-                }
-            } else {
-                write!(writer, "{level} ")?;
-            }
-        }
-
-        if self.show_spans {
-            let span = event.parent();
-            let mut seen = false;
-
-            let span = span
-                .and_then(|id| ctx.span(id))
-                .or_else(|| ctx.lookup_current());
-
-            let scope = span.into_iter().flat_map(|span| span.scope().from_root());
-
-            for span in scope {
-                seen = true;
-                if ansi {
-                    write!(writer, "{}:", span.metadata().name().bold())?;
-                } else {
-                    write!(writer, "{}:", span.metadata().name())?;
-                }
-            }
-
-            if seen {
-                writer.write_char(' ')?;
-            }
-        }
-
-        ctx.field_format().format_fields(writer.by_ref(), event)?;
-
-        writeln!(writer)
-    }
-}
-
 /// Configure `tracing` based on the given [`Level`], taking into account the `RUST_LOG` environment
 /// variable.
 ///
@@ -183,18 +102,11 @@ pub(crate) fn setup_logging(
             )
             .init();
     } else {
-        // Regardless of the tracing level, show messages without any adornment.
-        let format = UvFormat {
-            display_timestamp: false,
-            display_level: true,
-            show_spans: false,
-        };
-
         tracing_subscriber::registry()
             .with(durations_layer)
             .with(
                 tracing_subscriber::fmt::layer()
-                    .event_format(format)
+                    .event_format(UvFormat::default())
                     .with_writer(writer)
                     .with_ansi(ansi)
                     .with_filter(filter),
diff --git a/docs/concepts/build-backend.md b/docs/concepts/build-backend.md
index bd9a912fb..1e86d35ab 100644
--- a/docs/concepts/build-backend.md
+++ b/docs/concepts/build-backend.md
@@ -237,6 +237,13 @@ must either be under the module root or in the appropriate
 [data directory](../reference/settings.md#build-backend_data). Most packages store small data in the
 module root alongside the source code.
 
+!!! tip
+
+    When using the uv build backend through a frontend that is not uv, such as pip or
+    `pythom -m build`, debug logging can be enabled through environment variables with
+    `RUST_LOG=uv=debug` or `RUST_LOG=uv=verbose`. When used through uv, the uv build backend shares
+    the verbosity level of uv.
+
 ### Include and exclude syntax
 
 Includes are anchored, which means that `pyproject.toml` includes only `<root>/pyproject.toml` and