diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ac30a7b..894ec37 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ build-backend = "hatchling.build"
 
 [project]
 name = "log_setup"
-version = "0.1.0"
+version = "0.1.1"
 description = "stdlib app-entry-point logging setup: live run.log, rotation, gzip, retention, consistent format"
 requires-python = ">=3.10"
 dependencies = []
diff --git a/src/log_setup/__init__.py b/src/log_setup/__init__.py
index ed1dbc7..9717112 100644
--- a/src/log_setup/__init__.py
+++ b/src/log_setup/__init__.py
@@ -19,4 +19,4 @@ from .setup import setup_logging
 
 __all__ = ["setup_logging"]
 
-__version__ = "0.1.0"
+__version__ = "0.1.1"
diff --git a/src/log_setup/setup.py b/src/log_setup/setup.py
index f9f922b..1dcbb12 100644
--- a/src/log_setup/setup.py
+++ b/src/log_setup/setup.py
@@ -28,7 +28,12 @@ def _level_value(level: Union[int, str]) -> int:
     """coerce a level name or int to a logging level int (defaults to INFO)"""
     if isinstance(level, int):
         return level
-    return logging.getLevelName(str(level).upper()) if isinstance(level, str) else logging.INFO
+    if not isinstance(level, str):
+        return logging.INFO
+    resolved = logging.getLevelName(level.upper())
+    # getLevelName returns the string "Level XXX" for an unknown name, which
+    # setLevel then rejects — never crash the app over a bad level, fall back to INFO
+    return resolved if isinstance(resolved, int) else logging.INFO
 
 
 def _clear_owned(root: logging.Logger) -> None: