diff --git a/logger.py b/logger.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..34df0d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/logger.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+import logging
+import sys
+import requests
+from urllib.parse import urlparse
+from typing import Dict, Any, Optional, Tuple
+
+# Initialize logger
+logger = logging.getLogger("proxy_debug")
+logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+logger.propagate = False
+
+formatter = logging.Formatter(
+    "[{asctime}] PROXY DEBUG: {message}", datefmt="%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S", style="{"
+)
+
+try:
+    file_handler = logging.FileHandler("/tmp/proxy_debug.log")
+    file_handler.setFormatter(formatter)
+    logger.addHandler(file_handler)
+except OSError as e:
+    stream_handler = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stderr)
+    stream_handler.setFormatter(formatter)
+    logger.addHandler(stream_handler)
+    logger.error(f"Failed to configure file logger: {e}")
+
+
+def debug_log(message: str) -> None:
+    """
+    Appends a timestamped debug message.
+    Utilizes the standard logging module for thread safety.
+    """
+    logger.debug(message)
diff --git a/utils.py b/utils.py
index 6352363..3fc7058 100644
--- a/utils.py
+++ b/utils.py
@@ -3,24 +3,7 @@
 from urllib.parse import urlparse
 from typing import Dict, Any, Optional, Tuple
 import datetime
-
-
-def debug_log(message: str) -> None:
-    """
-    Appends a timestamped debug message to /tmp/proxy_debug.log.
-    Equivalent to PHP error_log with message_type 3.
-    """
-    timestamp = datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
-    log_entry = f"[{timestamp}] PROXY DEBUG: {message}\n"
-
-    try:
-        with open("/tmp/proxy_debug.log", "a") as f:
-            f.write(log_entry)
-    except OSError as e:
-        # Fallback to stderr if the file is unwritable
-        import sys
-
-        print(f"Failed to write to log: {e}", file=sys.stderr)
+from logger import debug_log
 
 
 def extract_request_context(env: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]: