diff --git a/scrapy/utils/log.py b/scrapy/utils/log.py
index cc2f0b164..d3fde097c 100644
--- a/scrapy/utils/log.py
+++ b/scrapy/utils/log.py
@@ -101,12 +101,25 @@ def configure_logging(settings=None, install_root_handler=True):
         logging.root.addHandler(handler)
 
 
+def _import_hander(name):
+    """Return class from dotted name"""
+    import importlib
+    module_name, class_name = name.rsplit('.', 1)
+    module = importlib.import_module(module_name)
+    return getattr(module, class_name)
+
+
 def _get_handler(settings):
     """ Return a log handler object according to settings """
     filename = settings.get('LOG_FILE')
     if filename:
         encoding = settings.get('LOG_ENCODING')
-        handler = logging.FileHandler(filename, encoding=encoding)
+        handler = settings.get('LOG_HANDLER')
+        if handler:
+            Handler = _import_hander(handler)
+        else:
+            Handler = logging.FileHandler
+        handler = Handler(filename, encoding=encoding)
     elif settings.getbool('LOG_ENABLED'):
         handler = logging.StreamHandler()
     else:
diff --git a/tests/test_utils_log_handler.py b/tests/test_utils_log_handler.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fecb70630
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_utils_log_handler.py
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+from logging import FileHandler
+from logging.handlers import TimedRotatingFileHandler
+from scrapy.utils import log
+import unittest
+
+
+class TestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+
+
+    def test_import_handler(self):
+        """Test function: _import_handler"""
+        name = 'logging.handlers.TimedRotatingFileHandler'
+        self.assertEqual(log._import_hander(name), TimedRotatingFileHandler)
+
+    def test_get_handler(self):
+        """Test function: _get_handler with LOG_FILE"""
+        # First create log file path
+        import os
+        import tempfile
+        file_path = tempfile.mkstemp()[1]
+        settings = {'LOG_FILE': file_path, 'LOG_ENCODIUNG': 'utf-8', 'LOG_LEVEL': 'DEBUG'}
+        handler = log._get_handler(settings)
+        self.assertIsInstance(handler, FileHandler)
+        # Adding LOG_HANDLER to settings should update the handler
+        settings['LOG_HANDLER'] = 'logging.handlers.TimedRotatingFileHandler'
+        handler = log._get_handler(settings)
+        self.assertIsInstance(handler, TimedRotatingFileHandler)
+        # Remove log file
+        os.remove(file_path)