diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 8cd1fa86f..29a738de0 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -408,7 +408,7 @@ unsafe impl Sync for AtomicUsize {}
 // the STATE static which determines whether LOGGER has been initialized yet.
 static mut LOGGER: &dyn Log = &NopLogger;
 
-static STATE: AtomicUsize = AtomicUsize::new(0);
+static STATE: AtomicUsize = AtomicUsize::new(UNINITIALIZED);
 
 // There are three different states that we care about: the logger's
 // uninitialized, the logger's initializing (set_logger's been called but
@@ -1366,31 +1366,45 @@ fn set_logger_inner<F>(make_logger: F) -> Result<(), SetLoggerError>
 where
     F: FnOnce() -> &'static dyn Log,
 {
-    let old_state = match STATE.compare_exchange(
+    // This method doesn't read from `LOGGER` variable at all,
+    // and if it changes it, it does another store to `STATE` after that.
+    // We don't need to synchronize CPU caches using memory ordering in this function
+    // even if another thread set `LOGGER` variable
+    // because all read accesses to `LOGGER` do that synchronization anyway.
+    let (Ok(old_state) | Err(old_state)) = STATE.compare_exchange(
         UNINITIALIZED,
         INITIALIZING,
-        Ordering::SeqCst,
-        Ordering::SeqCst,
-    ) {
-        Ok(s) | Err(s) => s,
-    };
+        Ordering::Relaxed,
+        Ordering::Relaxed,
+    );
     match old_state {
         UNINITIALIZED => {
             unsafe {
                 LOGGER = make_logger();
             }
-            STATE.store(INITIALIZED, Ordering::SeqCst);
+            // Use release ordering here to make write to `LOGGER` static
+            // and write to any contents of object pointed by `LOGGER` visible
+            // to other threads after they load `INITIALIZED` `STATE` using Acquire.
+            STATE.store(INITIALIZED, Ordering::Release);
             Ok(())
         }
         INITIALIZING => {
-            while STATE.load(Ordering::SeqCst) == INITIALIZING {
-                // TODO: replace with `hint::spin_loop` once MSRV is 1.49.0.
-                #[allow(deprecated)]
-                std::sync::atomic::spin_loop_hint();
+            // Wait until other thread writes a fat reference and a usize
+            // so wait would be very short so it is OK to use spinlock here.
+
+            // We don't need to use Acquire here because all ways to access
+            // `LOGGER` from public interface do `Acquire` load before that.
+            // We need to wait here to ensure that `logger()` function returns
+            // the valid logger after call.
+
+            while STATE.load(Ordering::Relaxed) == INITIALIZING {
+                std::hint::spin_loop();
             }
+
             Err(SetLoggerError(()))
         }
-        _ => Err(SetLoggerError(())),
+        INITIALIZED => Err(SetLoggerError(())),
+        unexpected_state => unreachable!("log::STATE has invalid value {}", unexpected_state),
     }
 }
 
@@ -1414,17 +1428,18 @@ where
 ///
 /// [`set_logger`]: fn.set_logger.html
 pub unsafe fn set_logger_racy(logger: &'static dyn Log) -> Result<(), SetLoggerError> {
-    match STATE.load(Ordering::SeqCst) {
+    match STATE.load(Ordering::Relaxed) {
         UNINITIALIZED => {
             LOGGER = logger;
-            STATE.store(INITIALIZED, Ordering::SeqCst);
+            STATE.store(INITIALIZED, Ordering::Release);
             Ok(())
         }
         INITIALIZING => {
             // This is just plain UB, since we were racing another initialization function
             unreachable!("set_logger_racy must not be used with other initialization functions")
         }
-        _ => Err(SetLoggerError(())),
+        INITIALIZED => Err(SetLoggerError(())),
+        unexpected_state => unreachable!("log::STATE has invalid value {}", unexpected_state),
     }
 }
 
@@ -1466,7 +1481,8 @@ impl error::Error for ParseLevelError {}
 ///
 /// If a logger has not been set, a no-op implementation is returned.
 pub fn logger() -> &'static dyn Log {
-    if STATE.load(Ordering::SeqCst) != INITIALIZED {
+    // Use Acquire to pair it with Release store in `set_logger_inner`.
+    if STATE.load(Ordering::Acquire) != INITIALIZED {
         static NOP: NopLogger = NopLogger;
         &NOP
     } else {