diff --git a/DOCS/interface-changes/msg-prefix.txt b/DOCS/interface-changes/msg-prefix.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..5df0adb4eb024
--- /dev/null
+++ b/DOCS/interface-changes/msg-prefix.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+add `msg-prefix` command
diff --git a/DOCS/interface-changes/msg.txt b/DOCS/interface-changes/msg.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..79d11f58e7538
--- /dev/null
+++ b/DOCS/interface-changes/msg.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+add `msg` command
diff --git a/DOCS/man/input.rst b/DOCS/man/input.rst
index a4307c81467a8..da21d9f31a1a5 100644
--- a/DOCS/man/input.rst
+++ b/DOCS/man/input.rst
@@ -814,6 +814,20 @@ Text Manipulation
 
         This line of Lua prints "foo \\{bar}" on the OSD.
 
+``msg <level> <message> [...]``
+    Write a log message. ``level`` must be one of the log levels accepted by the
+    ``mp.msg.log`` Lua function. The ``message`` arguments are separated from
+    each other with a space. A newline is added to the end of the message.
+
+    This command has a variable number of arguments, and cannot be used with
+    named arguments.
+
+    .. note:: Lua and JS code should use the provided ``mp.msg`` modules.
+
+``msg-prefix <level> <prefix> <message> [...]``
+    Same as ``msg``, but allows writing messages using ``prefix`` as the prefix
+    instead of the name of the client that sent the command.
+
 Configuration Commands
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
diff --git a/player/command.c b/player/command.c
index 9a378f76dfdb2..70b20f1992698 100644
--- a/player/command.c
+++ b/player/command.c
@@ -7104,6 +7104,44 @@ static void cmd_notify_property(void *p)
     mp_notify_property(mpctx, cmd->args[0].v.s);
 }
 
+static void cmd_msg(void *p)
+{
+    struct mp_cmd_ctx *cmd = p;
+    struct MPContext *mpctx = cmd->mpctx;
+
+    if (cmd->num_args < 2)
+        return;
+
+    int level = mp_msg_find_level(cmd->args[0].v.s);
+    if (level < 0)
+        return;
+
+    struct mp_log *log = mp_log_new(NULL, mpctx->log, cmd->cmd->sender);
+    for (int i = 1; i < cmd->num_args; i++)
+        mp_msg(log, level, (i == 1 ? "%s" : " %s"), cmd->args[i].v.s);
+    mp_msg(log, level, "\n");
+    talloc_free(log);
+}
+
+static void cmd_msg_prefix(void *p)
+{
+    struct mp_cmd_ctx *cmd = p;
+    struct MPContext *mpctx = cmd->mpctx;
+
+    if (cmd->num_args < 3)
+        return;
+
+    int level = mp_msg_find_level(cmd->args[0].v.s);
+    if (level < 0)
+        return;
+
+    struct mp_log *log = mp_log_new(NULL, mpctx->log, cmd->args[1].v.s);
+    for (int i = 2; i < cmd->num_args; i++)
+        mp_msg(log, level, (i == 2 ? "%s" : " %s"), cmd->args[i].v.s);
+    mp_msg(log, level, "\n");
+    talloc_free(log);
+}
+
 /* This array defines all known commands.
  * The first field the command name used in libmpv and input.conf.
  * The second field is the handler function (see mp_cmd_def.handler and
@@ -7623,6 +7661,13 @@ const struct mp_cmd_def mp_cmds[] = {
 
     { "notify-property", cmd_notify_property, { {"property", OPT_STRING(v.s)} } },
 
+    { "msg", cmd_msg, { {"level", OPT_STRING(v.s)}, {"message", OPT_STRING(v.s)} },
+        .is_noisy = true, .vararg = true },
+    { "msg-prefix", cmd_msg_prefix, { {"level", OPT_STRING(v.s)},
+                                      {"prefix", OPT_STRING(v.s)},
+                                      {"message", OPT_STRING(v.s)} },
+        .is_noisy = true, .vararg = true },
+
     {0}
 };
 
diff --git a/player/javascript.c b/player/javascript.c
index b435c14882920..4921481bc87a2 100644
--- a/player/javascript.c
+++ b/player/javascript.c
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@
 #include "common/common.h"
 #include "options/m_property.h"
 #include "common/msg.h"
-#include "common/msg_control.h"
 #include "common/stats.h"
 #include "options/m_option.h"
 #include "input/input.h"
@@ -565,21 +564,6 @@ static int checkopt(js_State *J, int idx, const char *def, const char *opts[],
     js_error(J, "Invalid %s '%s'", desc, opt);
 }
 
-// args: level as string and a variable numbers of args to print. adds final \n
-static void script_log(js_State *J)
-{
-    const char *level = js_tostring(J, 1);
-    int msgl = mp_msg_find_level(level);
-    if (msgl < 0)
-        js_error(J, "Invalid log level '%s'", level);
-
-    struct mp_log *log = jctx(J)->log;
-    for (int top = js_gettop(J), i = 2; i < top; i++)
-        mp_msg(log, msgl, (i == 2 ? "%s" : " %s"), js_tostring(J, i));
-    mp_msg(log, msgl, "\n");
-    push_success(J);
-}
-
 static void script_find_config_file(js_State *J, void *af)
 {
     const char *fname = js_tostring(J, 1);
@@ -1155,7 +1139,6 @@ struct fn_entry {
 // Names starting with underscore are wrapped at @defaults.js
 // FN_ENTRY is a normal js C function, AF_ENTRY is an autofree js C function.
 static const struct fn_entry main_fns[] = {
-    FN_ENTRY(log, 1),
     AF_ENTRY(wait_event, 1),
     FN_ENTRY(_request_event, 2),
     AF_ENTRY(find_config_file, 1),
diff --git a/player/javascript/defaults.js b/player/javascript/defaults.js
index ae687febe1014..b421213d0a3d9 100644
--- a/player/javascript/defaults.js
+++ b/player/javascript/defaults.js
@@ -5,6 +5,13 @@
 // - The names of function expressions are not required, but are used in stack
 //   traces. We name them where useful to show up (fname:#line always shows).
 
+mp.log = function(level) {
+    var cmd = ["msg", level];
+    for (var i = 1; i < arguments.length; i++)
+        cmd.push(String(arguments[i]))
+    mp.command_native(cmd);
+}
+
 mp.msg = { log: mp.log };
 mp.msg.verbose = mp.log.bind(null, "v");
 var levels = ["fatal", "error", "warn", "info", "debug", "trace"];
diff --git a/player/lua.c b/player/lua.c
index 83964daebbddb..e9f98291d5017 100644
--- a/player/lua.c
+++ b/player/lua.c
@@ -32,7 +32,6 @@
 #include "common/common.h"
 #include "options/m_property.h"
 #include "common/msg.h"
-#include "common/msg_control.h"
 #include "common/stats.h"
 #include "options/m_option.h"
 #include "input/input.h"
@@ -499,39 +498,6 @@ static int load_lua(struct mp_script_args *args)
     return r;
 }
 
-static int check_loglevel(lua_State *L, int arg)
-{
-    const char *level = luaL_checkstring(L, arg);
-    int n = mp_msg_find_level(level);
-    if (n >= 0)
-        return n;
-    luaL_error(L, "Invalid log level '%s'", level);
-    abort();
-}
-
-static int script_log(lua_State *L)
-{
-    struct script_ctx *ctx = get_ctx(L);
-
-    int msgl = check_loglevel(L, 1);
-
-    int last = lua_gettop(L);
-    lua_getglobal(L, "tostring"); // args... tostring
-    for (int i = 2; i <= last; i++) {
-        lua_pushvalue(L, -1); // args... tostring tostring
-        lua_pushvalue(L, i); // args... tostring tostring args[i]
-        lua_call(L, 1, 1); // args... tostring str
-        const char *s = lua_tostring(L, -1);
-        if (s == NULL)
-            return luaL_error(L, "Invalid argument");
-        mp_msg(ctx->log, msgl, (i == 2 ? "%s" : " %s"), s);
-        lua_pop(L, 1);  // args... tostring
-    }
-    mp_msg(ctx->log, msgl, "\n");
-
-    return 0;
-}
-
 static int script_find_config_file(lua_State *L)
 {
     struct MPContext *mpctx = get_mpctx(L);
@@ -1226,7 +1192,6 @@ struct fn_entry {
 };
 
 static const struct fn_entry main_fns[] = {
-    FN_ENTRY(log),
     AF_ENTRY(raw_wait_event),
     FN_ENTRY(request_event),
     FN_ENTRY(find_config_file),
diff --git a/player/lua/defaults.lua b/player/lua/defaults.lua
index 278f411ad4b8d..03bc56badec8f 100644
--- a/player/lua/defaults.lua
+++ b/player/lua/defaults.lua
@@ -486,6 +486,14 @@ end
 -- sent by "script-binding"
 mp.register_script_message("key-binding", dispatch_key_binding)
 
+function mp.log(level, ...)
+    local cmd = {"msg", level}
+    for i = 1, select("#", ...) do
+        cmd[#cmd + 1] = tostring(select(i, ...))
+    end
+    mp.command_native(cmd)
+end
+
 mp.msg = {
     log = mp.log,
     fatal = function(...) return mp.log("fatal", ...) end,