--- a/jdk/src/share/classes/java/util/logging/LogManager.java	Mon Oct 21 11:15:41 2013 +0200
+++ b/jdk/src/share/classes/java/util/logging/LogManager.java	Mon Oct 21 12:00:58 2013 +0200
@@ -770,9 +770,10 @@
             ref = owner.new LoggerWeakRef(logger);
             namedLoggers.put(name, ref);
 
-            // Apply any initial level defined for the new logger.
+            // Apply any initial level defined for the new logger, unless
+            // the logger's level is already initialized
             Level level = owner.getLevelProperty(name + ".level", null);
-            if (level != null) {
+            if (level != null && !logger.isLevelInitialized()) {
                 doSetLevel(logger, level);
             }
 

--- a/jdk/src/share/classes/java/util/logging/Logger.java	Mon Oct 21 11:15:41 2013 +0200
+++ b/jdk/src/share/classes/java/util/logging/Logger.java	Mon Oct 21 12:00:58 2013 +0200
@@ -1640,6 +1640,10 @@
         }
     }
 
+    final boolean isLevelInitialized() {
+        return levelObject != null;
+    }
+
     /**
      * Get the log Level that has been specified for this Logger.
      * The result may be null, which means that this logger's

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/jdk/test/java/util/logging/LogManager/RootLogger/setLevel/TestRootLoggerLevel.java	Mon Oct 21 12:00:58 2013 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+
+import java.security.Permission;
+import java.security.Permissions;
+import java.security.Policy;
+import java.security.ProtectionDomain;
+import java.util.logging.Level;
+import java.util.logging.Logger;
+import java.util.logging.LoggingPermission;
+
+
+
+/**
+ * @test
+ * @bug 8023163
+ * @summary checks that Logger.getLogger("").setLevel() is working correctly.
+ * @build TestRootLoggerLevel
+ * @run main/othervm -Dtest.security=on TestRootLoggerLevel
+ * @run main/othervm -Dtest.security=off TestRootLoggerLevel
+ * @author danielfuchs
+ */
+public class TestRootLoggerLevel {
+
+    public static enum Loggers {
+        ROOT("", "root"),
+        GLOBAL(Logger.GLOBAL_LOGGER_NAME);
+
+        private final String name;
+        private final String displayName;
+        Loggers(String name) {
+            this(name, name);
+        }
+        Loggers(String name, String displayName) {
+            this.name = name;
+            this.displayName = displayName;
+        }
+    }
+
+    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
+
+        for (Loggers log : Loggers.values()) {
+            System.out.println(log.displayName + ": "
+                    + Logger.getLogger(log.name)
+                    + ": " + Logger.getLogger(log.name).getLevel());
+        }
+
+        if ("on".equals(System.getProperty("test.security","on"))) {
+            System.out.println("*** SecurityManager is ON");
+            Policy.setPolicy(new SimplePolicy());
+
+            System.setSecurityManager(new SecurityManager());
+        } else {
+            System.out.println("*** SecurityManager is OFF");
+        }
+
+        // Before the fix, setting the root logger level here had only
+        // a transient effect...
+        for (Loggers log : Loggers.values()) {
+            System.out.println("Logger.getLogger(\""
+                    + log.name
+                    + "\").setLevel(Level.FINEST);");
+            Logger.getLogger(log.name).setLevel(Level.FINEST);
+            System.out.println(log.displayName + ": "
+                    + Logger.getLogger(log.name)
+                    + ": " + Logger.getLogger(log.name).getLevel());
+
+            // At this point - the root logger should have a level which is
+            // FINEST - just check it here for sanity.
+            if (Logger.getLogger(log.name).getLevel() != Level.FINEST) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("Logger " + log.displayName
+                        + " level should be FINEST: "
+                        + Logger.getLogger(log.name).getLevel());
+            }
+        }
+        // Initializing some PlatformLogger caused the root logger
+        // level to be reset to INFO.
+        //
+        final Object platformLogger =
+                sun.util.logging.PlatformLogger.getLogger("java.foo");
+        System.out.println("Got platform logger: " + platformLogger);
+
+        for (Loggers log : Loggers.values()) {
+            // Check that the root logger still has the FINEST value assigned
+            // to it earlier.
+            System.out.println(log.displayName + ": "
+                    + Logger.getLogger(log.name)
+                    + ": " + Logger.getLogger(log.name).getLevel());
+
+            if (Logger.getLogger(log.name).getLevel() != Level.FINEST) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("Logger " + log.displayName
+                        + " level should be FINEST: "
+                        + Logger.getLogger(log.name).getLevel());
+            }
+        }
+
+     }
+
+    private static final class SimplePolicy extends Policy {
+        private final Permissions perms;
+
+        private static final Permissions permissions(Permission... perms) {
+            Permissions permissions = new Permissions();
+            for (Permission perm : perms) {
+                permissions.add(perm);
+            }
+            return permissions;
+        }
+
+        SimplePolicy() {
+            this(permissions(new LoggingPermission("control", null),
+                    new RuntimePermission("accessClassInPackage.sun.util.logging")
+            ));
+        }
+
+        SimplePolicy(Permissions perms) {
+            this.perms = perms;
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public boolean implies(ProtectionDomain domain, Permission permission) {
+            return perms.implies(permission);
+        }
+
+    }
+
+}