diff --git a/include/haproxy/log-t.h b/include/haproxy/log-t.h
index a2cd18754..7bca3b7a6 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/log-t.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/log-t.h
@@ -335,6 +335,13 @@ struct log_profile {
 	struct eb_root extra;           // extra log profile steps (if any)
 };
 
+/* add additional bitmasks in this struct if needed but don't
+ * forget to update px_parse_log_steps() and log_orig_proxy() accordingly
+ */
+struct log_steps {
+	uint64_t steps_1; // first 64 steps
+};
+
 #endif /* _HAPROXY_LOG_T_H */
 
 /*
diff --git a/include/haproxy/proxy-t.h b/include/haproxy/proxy-t.h
index 2d4971012..cb6fc318a 100644
--- a/include/haproxy/proxy-t.h
+++ b/include/haproxy/proxy-t.h
@@ -470,7 +470,7 @@ struct proxy {
 		struct arg_list args;           /* sample arg list that need to be resolved */
 		struct ebpt_node by_name;       /* proxies are stored sorted by name here */
 		struct list lf_checks;          /* list of logformats found in the proxy section that needs to be checked during postparse */
-		struct eb_root log_steps;       /* tree of log origins where log should be generated during request handling */
+		struct log_steps log_steps;     /* bitfield of log origins where log should be generated during request handling */
 		const char *file_prev;          /* file of the previous instance found with the same name, or NULL */
 		int line_prev;                  /* line of the previous instance found with the same name, or 0 */
 		unsigned int refcount;          /* refcount on this proxy (only used for default proxy for now) */
diff --git a/src/log.c b/src/log.c
index c0d439239..fc6aeb9d1 100644
--- a/src/log.c
+++ b/src/log.c
@@ -137,8 +137,8 @@ const char *log_orig_to_str(enum log_orig_id orig)
  */
 int log_orig_proxy(enum log_orig_id orig, struct proxy *px)
 {
-	if (eb_is_empty(&px->conf.log_steps)) {
-		/* empty tree means all log steps are enabled, thus
+	if (px->conf.log_steps.steps_1 == 0) {
+		/* logstep bitmasks to 0 means all log steps are enabled, thus
 		 * all log origins are considered
 		 */
 		return 1;
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ int log_orig_proxy(enum log_orig_id orig, struct proxy *px)
 	/* selectively check if the current log origin is referenced in
 	 * proxy log-steps
 	 */
-	return !!eb32_lookup(&px->conf.log_steps, orig);
+	return (px->conf.log_steps.steps_1 & (1ULL << orig));
 }
 
 /*
@@ -6893,7 +6893,8 @@ static int px_parse_log_steps(char **args, int section_type, struct proxy *curpx
 			goto end;
 		}
 		cur_step->key = cur_id;
-		eb32_insert(&curpx->conf.log_steps, cur_step);
+		BUG_ON(cur_id > 64); // for now we don't support more than 64 log origins
+		curpx->conf.log_steps.steps_1 |= (1ULL << cur_id);
  next:
 		if (str[cur_sep])
 			str += cur_sep + 1;
diff --git a/src/proxy.c b/src/proxy.c
index 8c3bbaac2..7030eb803 100644
--- a/src/proxy.c
+++ b/src/proxy.c
@@ -215,7 +215,6 @@ static inline void proxy_free_common(struct proxy *px)
 	struct acl *acl, *aclb;
 	struct logger *log, *logb;
 	struct lf_expr *lf, *lfb;
-	struct eb32_node *node;
 
 	/* note that the node's key points to p->id */
 	ebpt_delete(&px->conf.by_name);
@@ -278,16 +277,6 @@ static inline void proxy_free_common(struct proxy *px)
 
 	chunk_destroy(&px->log_tag);
 
-	node = eb32_first(&px->conf.log_steps);
-	while (node) {
-		struct eb32_node *prev_node = node;
-
-		/* log steps directly use the node key as id, they are not encapsulated */
-		node = eb32_next(node);
-		eb32_delete(prev_node);
-		free(prev_node);
-	}
-
 	free_email_alert(px);
 	stats_uri_auth_drop(px->uri_auth);
 	px->uri_auth = NULL;
@@ -1483,7 +1472,6 @@ void init_new_proxy(struct proxy *p)
 	p->conf.used_listener_id = EB_ROOT;
 	p->conf.used_server_id   = EB_ROOT;
 	p->used_server_addr      = EB_ROOT_UNIQUE;
-	p->conf.log_steps        = EB_ROOT_UNIQUE;
 
 	/* Timeouts are defined as -1 */
 	proxy_reset_timeouts(p);
@@ -1808,7 +1796,6 @@ static int proxy_defproxy_cpy(struct proxy *curproxy, const struct proxy *defpro
 {
 	struct logger *tmplogger;
 	char *tmpmsg = NULL;
-	struct eb32_node *node = NULL;
 
 	/* set default values from the specified default proxy */
 
@@ -2037,25 +2024,8 @@ static int proxy_defproxy_cpy(struct proxy *curproxy, const struct proxy *defpro
 	curproxy->email_alert.level = defproxy->email_alert.level;
 	curproxy->email_alert.flags = defproxy->email_alert.flags;
 
-	/* defproxy is const pointer, so we need to typecast log_steps to
-	 * drop the const in order to use EB tree API, please note however
-	 * that the operations performed below should theoretically be read-only
-	 */
 	if (curproxy->cap & PR_CAP_FE) // don't inherit on backends
-		node = eb32_first((struct eb_root *)&defproxy->conf.log_steps);
-	while (node) {
-		struct eb32_node *new_node;
-
-		new_node = malloc(sizeof(*new_node));
-		if (!new_node) {
-			memprintf(errmsg, "proxy '%s': out of memory for log_steps option", curproxy->id);
-			return 1;
-		}
-
-		new_node->key = node->key;
-		eb32_insert(&curproxy->conf.log_steps, new_node);
-		node = eb32_next(node);
-	}
+		curproxy->conf.log_steps = defproxy->conf.log_steps;
 
 	return 0;
 }