diff --git a/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/AdminPropertiesSetter.java b/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/AdminPropertiesSetter.java
index 9ba18fa8c..061590e6b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/AdminPropertiesSetter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/AdminPropertiesSetter.java
@@ -1,21 +1,24 @@
 package org.cryptomator.launcher;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.type.TypeReference;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.json.JsonMapper;
 import org.apache.commons.lang3.SystemUtils;
-import org.slf4j.Logger;
-import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.nio.file.StandardOpenOption;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.Properties;
 import java.util.Set;
 
 /**
  * Class to overwrite system properties with an external properties file
  * <p>
- * To overwrite system properties, the method {@link #adjustSystemProperties()} loads the properties file {@value PROP_FILENAME} from an OS-dependent location and add all supported properties to the {@link System} properties.
+ * To overwrite system properties, the method {@link #adjustSystemProperties()} loads the JSON file {@value CONFIG_NAME} from an OS-dependent location and add all supported properties to the {@link System} properties.
  * The predefined location are:
  *     <ul>
  *         <li>Linux - {@value LINUX_DIR }</li>
@@ -37,12 +40,12 @@ import java.util.Set;
  */
 class AdminPropertiesSetter {
 
-	private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(AdminPropertiesSetter.class);
+	private static final ObjectMapper JSON = JsonMapper.builder().build();
 
 	private static final String LINUX_DIR = "/etc/cryptmator";
 	private static final String MAC_DIR = "/Library/Application Support/Cryptomator";
 	private static final String WIN_DIR = "%PROGRAMDATA%\\Cryptomator";
-	private static final String PROP_FILENAME = "config.properties";
+	private static final String CONFIG_NAME = "config.json";
 	private static final Set<String> ALLOWED_OVERRIDES = Set.of( //
 			"cryptomator.logDir", //
 			"cryptomator.pluginDir", //
@@ -60,7 +63,7 @@ class AdminPropertiesSetter {
 		} else { //LINUX
 			adminDir = Path.of(LINUX_DIR);
 		}
-		ADMIN_PROPERTIES_FILE = adminDir.resolve(PROP_FILENAME);
+		ADMIN_PROPERTIES_FILE = adminDir.resolve(CONFIG_NAME);
 	}
 
 	private static final Path ADMIN_PROPERTIES_FILE;
@@ -77,29 +80,34 @@ class AdminPropertiesSetter {
 		var systemProps = System.getProperties();
 		var adminProps = loadAdminProperties(ADMIN_PROPERTIES_FILE);
 
-		for (var key : adminProps.stringPropertyNames()) {
-			if (ALLOWED_OVERRIDES.contains(key)) {
-				var value = adminProps.getProperty(key);
-				LOG.info("Overwriting {} with value {} from admin properties.", key, value);
-				systemProps.setProperty(key, value);
+		adminProps.forEach((key, value) -> {
+			if (ALLOWED_OVERRIDES.contains(key) && value instanceof String v) {
+				log("Overwriting {} with value {} from admin properties.", List.of(key, v));
+				systemProps.setProperty(key, v);
 			} else {
-				LOG.debug("Property {} in admin properties is not supported for override.", key);
+				var reason = value instanceof String ? "Unsupported" : "Not a string";
+				log("Property {} in admin config ignored: {}.", List.of(key, reason));
 			}
-		}
+		});
 		return systemProps;
 	}
 
-	private static Properties loadAdminProperties(Path adminPropertiesPath) {
-		var adminProps = new Properties();
-		try {
-			adminProps.load(Files.newInputStream(adminPropertiesPath, StandardOpenOption.READ));
+	private static Map<String, Object> loadAdminProperties(Path adminPropertiesPath) {
+		try (var in = Files.newInputStream(adminPropertiesPath, StandardOpenOption.READ)) {
+			var map = JSON.readValue(in, new TypeReference<Map<String, Object>>() {});
+			if (map != null) {
+				return map;
+			}
 		} catch (NoSuchFileException _) {
 			//NO-OP
-			LOG.debug("No admin properties found at  {}.", adminPropertiesPath);
-		} catch (IOException | IllegalArgumentException e) {
-			LOG.warn("Failed to read administrative properties from {}. Returning empty properties.", adminPropertiesPath, e);
+			log("No admin properties found at  {}.", List.of(adminPropertiesPath));
+		} catch (IOException | RuntimeException e) {
+			log("Failed to read administrative properties from {}. Returning empty properties.", List.of(adminPropertiesPath, e));
 		}
-		return adminProps;
+		return Map.of();
 	}
 
+	static void log(String message, List<Object> messageInput) {
+		BufferedLog.log(AdminPropertiesSetter.class.getName(), message, messageInput);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/BufferedLog.java b/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/BufferedLog.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..45547f69d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/BufferedLog.java
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+package org.cryptomator.launcher;
+
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+class BufferedLog {
+
+	private final static List<Entry> logMessages = new ArrayList<>();
+
+	record Entry(String className, String message, List<Object> messageInput) {}
+
+	static void log(String className, String message, List<Object> messageInput) {
+		add(new BufferedLog.Entry(className, message, messageInput));
+	}
+
+	static void add(Entry e) {
+		logMessages.add(e);
+	}
+
+	public static void flush(Logger log) {
+		logMessages.forEach(e -> {
+			var message = "PRE LOG INIT Event in %s: %s".formatted(e.className, e.message);
+			log.info(message, e.messageInput.toArray());
+		});
+	}
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/Cryptomator.java b/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/Cryptomator.java
index 281a316db..b61dba843 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/Cryptomator.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/cryptomator/launcher/Cryptomator.java
@@ -11,9 +11,9 @@ import org.apache.commons.lang3.SystemUtils;
 import org.cryptomator.common.Environment;
 import org.cryptomator.common.ShutdownHook;
 import org.cryptomator.common.SubstitutingProperties;
-import org.cryptomator.networking.SSLContextProvider;
 import org.cryptomator.ipc.IpcCommunicator;
 import org.cryptomator.logging.DebugMode;
+import org.cryptomator.networking.SSLContextProvider;
 import org.cryptomator.ui.fxapp.FxApplicationComponent;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import java.security.SecureRandom;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Optional;
-import java.util.Properties;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 
 @Singleton
@@ -66,6 +65,7 @@ public class Cryptomator {
 	}
 
 	public static void main(String[] args) {
+		BufferedLog.flush(LOG);
 		var printVersion = Optional.ofNullable(args) //
 				.stream() //Streams either one element (the args-array) or zero elements
 				.flatMap(Arrays::stream) //