diff --git a/ocis/pkg/command/thumbnails.go b/ocis/pkg/command/thumbnails.go
index a6054da87d..0562b5d617 100644
--- a/ocis/pkg/command/thumbnails.go
+++ b/ocis/pkg/command/thumbnails.go
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ package command
 
 import (
 	"github.com/owncloud/ocis/ocis-pkg/config"
-	"github.com/owncloud/ocis/ocis-pkg/shared"
 	"github.com/owncloud/ocis/ocis/pkg/register"
 	"github.com/owncloud/ocis/thumbnails/pkg/command"
 	"github.com/urfave/cli/v2"
@@ -13,8 +12,6 @@ import (
 
 // ThumbnailsCommand is the entrypoint for the thumbnails command.
 func ThumbnailsCommand(cfg *config.Config) *cli.Command {
-	var globalLog shared.Log
-
 	return &cli.Command{
 		Name:     "thumbnails",
 		Usage:    "Start thumbnails server",
@@ -27,16 +24,13 @@ func ThumbnailsCommand(cfg *config.Config) *cli.Command {
 				return err
 			}
 
-			globalLog = cfg.Log
+			if cfg.Commons != nil {
+				cfg.Thumbnails.Commons = cfg.Commons
+			}
 
 			return nil
 		},
 		Action: func(c *cli.Context) error {
-			// if thumbnails logging is empty in ocis.yaml
-			if (cfg.Thumbnails.Log == shared.Log{}) && (globalLog != shared.Log{}) {
-				// we can safely inherit the global logging values.
-				cfg.Thumbnails.Log = globalLog
-			}
 			origCmd := command.Server(cfg.Thumbnails)
 			return handleOriginalAction(c, origCmd)
 		},
diff --git a/thumbnails/pkg/command/root.go b/thumbnails/pkg/command/root.go
index c6c6be4240..5136f0df0c 100644
--- a/thumbnails/pkg/command/root.go
+++ b/thumbnails/pkg/command/root.go
@@ -72,7 +72,20 @@ func ParseConfig(c *cli.Context, cfg *config.Config) error {
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
-	conf.LoadOSEnv(config.GetEnv(), false)
+
+	// provide with defaults for shared logging, since we need a valid destination address for BindEnv.
+	if cfg.Log == nil && cfg.Commons != nil && cfg.Commons.Log != nil {
+		cfg.Log = &shared.Log{
+			Level:  cfg.Commons.Log.Level,
+			Pretty: cfg.Commons.Log.Pretty,
+			Color:  cfg.Commons.Log.Color,
+			File:   cfg.Commons.Log.File,
+		}
+	} else if cfg.Log == nil && cfg.Commons == nil {
+		cfg.Log = &shared.Log{}
+	}
+
+	conf.LoadOSEnv(config.GetEnv(cfg), false)
 	bindings := config.StructMappings(cfg)
 	return ociscfg.BindEnv(conf, bindings)
 }
@@ -84,9 +97,7 @@ type SutureService struct {
 
 // NewSutureService creates a new thumbnails.SutureService
 func NewSutureService(cfg *ociscfg.Config) suture.Service {
-	if (cfg.Thumbnails.Log == shared.Log{}) {
-		cfg.Thumbnails.Log = cfg.Log
-	}
+	cfg.Thumbnails.Commons = cfg.Commons
 	return SutureService{
 		cfg: cfg.Thumbnails,
 	}
diff --git a/thumbnails/pkg/command/server.go b/thumbnails/pkg/command/server.go
index 8e9db2538d..e929245a47 100644
--- a/thumbnails/pkg/command/server.go
+++ b/thumbnails/pkg/command/server.go
@@ -4,10 +4,6 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"fmt"
 
-	gofig "github.com/gookit/config/v2"
-	ociscfg "github.com/owncloud/ocis/ocis-pkg/config"
-	"github.com/owncloud/ocis/ocis-pkg/shared"
-
 	"github.com/oklog/run"
 	"github.com/owncloud/ocis/ocis-pkg/sync"
 	"github.com/owncloud/ocis/thumbnails/pkg/config"
@@ -24,26 +20,9 @@ func Server(cfg *config.Config) *cli.Command {
 		Name:  "server",
 		Usage: "Start integrated server",
 		Before: func(ctx *cli.Context) error {
-			// remember shared logging info to prevent empty overwrites
-			inLog := cfg.Log
-
 			if err := ParseConfig(ctx, cfg); err != nil {
 				return err
 			}
-
-			if (cfg.Log == shared.Log{}) && (inLog != shared.Log{}) {
-				// set the default to the parent config
-				cfg.Log = inLog
-
-				// and parse the environment
-				conf := &gofig.Config{}
-				conf.LoadOSEnv(config.GetEnv(), false)
-				bindings := config.StructMappings(cfg)
-				if err := ociscfg.BindEnv(conf, bindings); err != nil {
-					return err
-				}
-			}
-
 			return nil
 		},
 		Action: func(c *cli.Context) error {
diff --git a/thumbnails/pkg/config/config.go b/thumbnails/pkg/config/config.go
index e91137d13e..8e5e52517b 100644
--- a/thumbnails/pkg/config/config.go
+++ b/thumbnails/pkg/config/config.go
@@ -35,12 +35,14 @@ type Tracing struct {
 
 // Config combines all available configuration parts.
 type Config struct {
-	File      string     `mapstructure:"file"`
-	Log       shared.Log `mapstructure:"log"`
-	Debug     Debug      `mapstructure:"debug"`
-	Server    Server     `mapstructure:"server"`
-	Tracing   Tracing    `mapstructure:"tracing"`
-	Thumbnail Thumbnail  `mapstructure:"thumbnail"`
+	*shared.Commons
+
+	File      string      `mapstructure:"file"`
+	Log       *shared.Log `mapstructure:"log"`
+	Debug     Debug       `mapstructure:"debug"`
+	Server    Server      `mapstructure:"server"`
+	Tracing   Tracing     `mapstructure:"tracing"`
+	Thumbnail Thumbnail   `mapstructure:"thumbnail"`
 
 	Context    context.Context
 	Supervised bool
@@ -73,7 +75,6 @@ func New() *Config {
 
 func DefaultConfig() *Config {
 	return &Config{
-		Log: shared.Log{},
 		Debug: Debug{
 			Addr:   "127.0.0.1:9189",
 			Token:  "",
@@ -104,14 +105,3 @@ func DefaultConfig() *Config {
 		},
 	}
 }
-
-// GetEnv fetches a list of known env variables for this extension. It is to be used by gookit, as it provides a list
-// with all the environment variables an extension supports.
-func GetEnv() []string {
-	var r = make([]string, len(structMappings(&Config{})))
-	for i := range structMappings(&Config{}) {
-		r = append(r, structMappings(&Config{})[i].EnvVars...)
-	}
-
-	return r
-}
diff --git a/thumbnails/pkg/config/mappings.go b/thumbnails/pkg/config/mappings.go
index 2a7e181a36..c4e5e07b53 100644
--- a/thumbnails/pkg/config/mappings.go
+++ b/thumbnails/pkg/config/mappings.go
@@ -2,6 +2,17 @@ package config
 
 import "github.com/owncloud/ocis/ocis-pkg/shared"
 
+// GetEnv fetches a list of known env variables for this extension. It is to be used by gookit, as it provides a list
+// with all the environment variables an extension supports.
+func GetEnv(cfg *Config) []string {
+	var r = make([]string, len(structMappings(cfg)))
+	for i := range structMappings(cfg) {
+		r = append(r, structMappings(cfg)[i].EnvVars...)
+	}
+
+	return r
+}
+
 // StructMappings binds a set of environment variables to a destination on cfg. Iterating over this set and editing the
 // Destination value of a binding will alter the original value, as it is a pointer to its memory address. This lets
 // us propagate changes easier.