diff --git a/pydicom/config.py b/pydicom/config.py
index ae9c8bdf1..d3f589110 100644
--- a/pydicom/config.py
+++ b/pydicom/config.py
@@ -62,10 +62,7 @@ and datetime.time respectively. Default: False
 
 # Logging system and debug function to change logging level
 logger = logging.getLogger('pydicom')
-handler = logging.StreamHandler()
-formatter = logging.Formatter("%(message)s")
-handler.setFormatter(formatter)
-logger.addHandler(handler)
+logger.addHandler(logging.NullHandler())
 
 
 import pydicom.pixel_data_handlers.numpy_handler as np_handler  # noqa
@@ -110,16 +107,29 @@ syntax, then this fact is announced in a NotImplementedError exception.
 """
 
 
-def debug(debug_on=True):
-    """Turn debugging of DICOM file reading and writing on or off.
+def debug(debug_on=True, default_handler=True):
+    """Turn on/off debugging of DICOM file reading and writing.
+
     When debugging is on, file location and details about the
     elements read at that location are logged to the 'pydicom'
     logger using python's logging module.
 
-    :param debug_on: True (default) to turn on debugging,
-    False to turn off.
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    debug_on : bool, optional
+        If True (default) then turn on debugging, False to turn off.
+    default_handler : bool, optional
+        If True (default) then use ``logging.StreamHandler()`` as the handler
+        for log messages.
     """
     global logger, debugging
+
+    if default_handler:
+        handler = logging.StreamHandler()
+        formatter = logging.Formatter("%(message)s")
+        handler.setFormatter(formatter)
+        logger.addHandler(handler)
+
     if debug_on:
         logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
         debugging = True
@@ -129,4 +139,4 @@ def debug(debug_on=True):
 
 
 # force level=WARNING, in case logging default is set differently (issue 103)
-debug(False)
+debug(False, False)
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index c6f151ff7..6955f9ac6 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ CLASSIFIERS = [
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.4",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.5",
     "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.6",
+    "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7",
     "Operating System :: OS Independent",
     "Topic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Medical Science Apps.",
     "Topic :: Scientific/Engineering :: Physics",

pydicom should not define handler, formatter and log level.
The `config` module (imported when pydicom is imported) defines a handler and set the log level for the pydicom logger. This should not be the case IMO. It should be the responsibility of the client code of pydicom to configure the logging module to its convenience. Otherwise one end up having multiple logs record as soon as pydicom is imported:

Example:
```
Could not import pillow
2018-03-25 15:27:29,744 :: DEBUG :: pydicom 
  Could not import pillow
Could not import jpeg_ls
2018-03-25 15:27:29,745 :: DEBUG :: pydicom 
  Could not import jpeg_ls
Could not import gdcm
2018-03-25 15:27:29,745 :: DEBUG :: pydicom 
  Could not import gdcm
``` 
Or am I missing something?
diff --git a/pydicom/tests/test_config.py b/pydicom/tests/test_config.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..66824c709
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pydicom/tests/test_config.py
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+# Copyright 2008-2019 pydicom authors. See LICENSE file for details.
+"""Unit tests for the pydicom.config module."""
+
+import logging
+import sys
+
+import pytest
+
+from pydicom import dcmread
+from pydicom.config import debug
+from pydicom.data import get_testdata_files
+
+
+DS_PATH = get_testdata_files("CT_small.dcm")[0]
+PYTEST = [int(x) for x in pytest.__version__.split('.')]
+
+
+@pytest.mark.skipif(PYTEST[:2] < [3, 4], reason='no caplog')
+class TestDebug(object):
+    """Tests for config.debug()."""
+    def setup(self):
+        self.logger = logging.getLogger('pydicom')
+
+    def teardown(self):
+        # Reset to just NullHandler
+        self.logger.handlers = [self.logger.handlers[0]]
+
+    def test_default(self, caplog):
+        """Test that the default logging handler is a NullHandler."""
+        assert 1 == len(self.logger.handlers)
+        assert isinstance(self.logger.handlers[0], logging.NullHandler)
+
+        with caplog.at_level(logging.DEBUG, logger='pydicom'):
+            ds = dcmread(DS_PATH)
+
+            assert "Call to dcmread()" not in caplog.text
+            assert "Reading File Meta Information preamble..." in caplog.text
+            assert "Reading File Meta Information prefix..." in caplog.text
+            assert "00000080: 'DICM' prefix found" in caplog.text
+
+    def test_debug_on_handler_null(self, caplog):
+        """Test debug(True, False)."""
+        debug(True, False)
+        assert 1 == len(self.logger.handlers)
+        assert isinstance(self.logger.handlers[0], logging.NullHandler)
+
+        with caplog.at_level(logging.DEBUG, logger='pydicom'):
+            ds = dcmread(DS_PATH)
+
+            assert "Call to dcmread()" in caplog.text
+            assert "Reading File Meta Information preamble..." in caplog.text
+            assert "Reading File Meta Information prefix..." in caplog.text
+            assert "00000080: 'DICM' prefix found" in caplog.text
+            msg = (
+                "00009848: fc ff fc ff 4f 42 00 00 7e 00 00 00    "
+                "(fffc, fffc) OB Length: 126"
+            )
+            assert msg in caplog.text
+
+    def test_debug_off_handler_null(self, caplog):
+        """Test debug(False, False)."""
+        debug(False, False)
+        assert 1 == len(self.logger.handlers)
+        assert isinstance(self.logger.handlers[0], logging.NullHandler)
+
+        with caplog.at_level(logging.DEBUG, logger='pydicom'):
+            ds = dcmread(DS_PATH)
+
+            assert "Call to dcmread()" not in caplog.text
+            assert "Reading File Meta Information preamble..." in caplog.text
+            assert "Reading File Meta Information prefix..." in caplog.text
+            assert "00000080: 'DICM' prefix found" in caplog.text
+
+    def test_debug_on_handler_stream(self, caplog):
+        """Test debug(True, True)."""
+        debug(True, True)
+        assert 2 == len(self.logger.handlers)
+        assert isinstance(self.logger.handlers[0], logging.NullHandler)
+        assert isinstance(self.logger.handlers[1], logging.StreamHandler)
+
+        with caplog.at_level(logging.DEBUG, logger='pydicom'):
+            ds = dcmread(DS_PATH)
+
+            assert "Call to dcmread()" in caplog.text
+            assert "Reading File Meta Information preamble..." in caplog.text
+            assert "Reading File Meta Information prefix..." in caplog.text
+            assert "00000080: 'DICM' prefix found" in caplog.text
+            msg = (
+                "00009848: fc ff fc ff 4f 42 00 00 7e 00 00 00    "
+                "(fffc, fffc) OB Length: 126"
+            )
+            assert msg in caplog.text
+
+    def test_debug_off_handler_stream(self, caplog):
+        """Test debug(False, True)."""
+        debug(False, True)
+        assert 2 == len(self.logger.handlers)
+        assert isinstance(self.logger.handlers[0], logging.NullHandler)
+        assert isinstance(self.logger.handlers[1], logging.StreamHandler)
+
+        with caplog.at_level(logging.DEBUG, logger='pydicom'):
+            ds = dcmread(DS_PATH)
+
+            assert "Call to dcmread()" not in caplog.text
+            assert "Reading File Meta Information preamble..." in caplog.text
+            assert "Reading File Meta Information prefix..." in caplog.text
+            assert "00000080: 'DICM' prefix found" in caplog.text

pip install -e .
parse_log_pytest
requirements.txt
pytest
apt-get update apt-get install -y gcc
3.6
pytest --no-header -rA --tb=line --color=no -p no:cacheprovider -W ignore::DeprecationWarning
attrs==22.2.0
certifi==2021.5.30
importlib-metadata==4.8.3
iniconfig==1.1.1
packaging==21.3
pluggy==1.0.0
py==1.11.0
-e git+https://github.com/pydicom/pydicom.git@3746878d8edf1cbda6fbcf35eec69f9ba79301ca#egg=pydicom
pyparsing==3.1.4
pytest==7.0.1
tomli==1.2.3
typing_extensions==4.1.1
zipp==3.6.0

name: pydicom
channels:
  - defaults
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main
  - https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r
  - conda-forge
dependencies:
  - _libgcc_mutex=0.1=main
  - _openmp_mutex=5.1=1_gnu
  - ca-certificates=2025.2.25=h06a4308_0
  - certifi=2021.5.30=py36h06a4308_0
  - ld_impl_linux-64=2.40=h12ee557_0
  - libffi=3.3=he6710b0_2
  - libgcc-ng=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - libgomp=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - libstdcxx-ng=11.2.0=h1234567_1
  - ncurses=6.4=h6a678d5_0
  - openssl=1.1.1w=h7f8727e_0
  - pip=21.2.2=py36h06a4308_0
  - python=3.6.13=h12debd9_1
  - readline=8.2=h5eee18b_0
  - setuptools=58.0.4=py36h06a4308_0
  - sqlite=3.45.3=h5eee18b_0
  - tk=8.6.14=h39e8969_0
  - wheel=0.37.1=pyhd3eb1b0_0
  - xz=5.6.4=h5eee18b_1
  - zlib=1.2.13=h5eee18b_1
  - pip:
      - attrs==22.2.0
      - importlib-metadata==4.8.3
      - iniconfig==1.1.1
      - packaging==21.3
      - pluggy==1.0.0
      - py==1.11.0
      - pyparsing==3.1.4
      - pytest==7.0.1
      - tomli==1.2.3
      - typing-extensions==4.1.1
      - zipp==3.6.0
prefix: /opt/conda/envs/pydicom

pydicom/tests/test_config.py::TestDebug::test_default pydicom/tests/test_config.py::TestDebug::test_debug_on_handler_null pydicom/tests/test_config.py::TestDebug::test_debug_off_handler_null pydicom/tests/test_config.py::TestDebug::test_debug_on_handler_stream pydicom/tests/test_config.py::TestDebug::test_debug_off_handler_stream
setup.py pydicom/config.py
setup.py pydicom/config.py