diff --git a/backend/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/io/JobPaths.scala b/backend/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/io/JobPaths.scala
index d7c36f409b7..ca2801d203a 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/io/JobPaths.scala
+++ b/backend/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/io/JobPaths.scala
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ object JobPaths {
   val ScriptPathKey = "script"
   val StdoutPathKey = "stdout"
   val StdErrPathKey = "stderr"
+  val TaskLogPathKey = "taskLog"
   val ReturnCodePathKey = "returnCode"
   val CallRootPathKey = "callRootPath"
   val DockerCidPathKey = "dockerCidPath"
@@ -45,6 +46,7 @@ trait JobPaths {
   def defaultStderrFilename = "stderr"
   def defaultTaskLogFilename = "task.log"
   def isDocker: Boolean = false
+  def implementsTaskLogging: Boolean = false
 
   // In this non-Docker version of `JobPaths` there is no distinction between host and container roots so this is
   // just called 'rootWithSlash'.
@@ -87,9 +89,8 @@ trait JobPaths {
   // standard output and error file names.
   def standardOutputAndErrorPaths: Map[String, Path] = Map(
     CallMetadataKeys.Stdout -> standardPaths.output,
-    CallMetadataKeys.Stderr -> standardPaths.error,
-    CallMetadataKeys.TaskLog -> standardPaths.taskLog
-  )
+    CallMetadataKeys.Stderr -> standardPaths.error
+  ) ++ (if (implementsTaskLogging) Map(CallMetadataKeys.TaskLog -> standardPaths.taskLog) else Map.empty)
 
   private lazy val commonMetadataPaths: Map[String, Path] =
     standardOutputAndErrorPaths + (CallMetadataKeys.CallRoot -> callRoot)
@@ -102,7 +103,7 @@ trait JobPaths {
     JobPaths.StdoutPathKey -> standardPaths.output,
     JobPaths.StdErrPathKey -> standardPaths.error,
     JobPaths.ReturnCodePathKey -> returnCode
-  )
+  ) ++ (if (implementsTaskLogging) Map(JobPaths.TaskLogPathKey -> standardPaths.taskLog) else Map.empty)
 
   private lazy val commonLogPaths: Map[String, Path] = Map(
     JobPaths.StdoutPathKey -> standardPaths.output,
diff --git a/backend/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/standard/StandardAsyncExecutionActor.scala b/backend/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/standard/StandardAsyncExecutionActor.scala
index 1928f2c52e1..cc8c9c8c217 100644
--- a/backend/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/standard/StandardAsyncExecutionActor.scala
+++ b/backend/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/standard/StandardAsyncExecutionActor.scala
@@ -501,7 +501,7 @@ trait StandardAsyncExecutionActor
           |touch $stdoutRedirection $stderrRedirection
           |tee $stdoutRedirection < "$$$out" &
           |tee $stderrRedirection < "$$$err" >&2 &
-          |tail -q -f $stdoutRedirection $stderrRedirection > $taskLogRedirection &
+          |${if (jobPaths.implementsTaskLogging) s"tail -q -f $stdoutRedirection $stderrRedirection > $taskLogRedirection &" else ""}
           |(
           |cd ${cwd.pathAsString}
           |ENVIRONMENT_VARIABLES
diff --git a/services/src/main/scala/cromwell/services/metadata/CallMetadataKeys.scala b/services/src/main/scala/cromwell/services/metadata/CallMetadataKeys.scala
index 3c4ea21abce..bbab5db826d 100644
--- a/services/src/main/scala/cromwell/services/metadata/CallMetadataKeys.scala
+++ b/services/src/main/scala/cromwell/services/metadata/CallMetadataKeys.scala
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ object CallMetadataKeys {
   val Failures = "failures"
   val Stdout = "stdout"
   val Stderr = "stderr"
-  val TaskLog = "task.log"
+  val TaskLog = "taskLog"
   val BackendLogsPrefix = "backendLogs"
   val BackendStatus = "backendStatus"
   val JobId = "jobId"
diff --git a/supportedBackends/google/batch/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/google/batch/models/GcpBatchJobPaths.scala b/supportedBackends/google/batch/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/google/batch/models/GcpBatchJobPaths.scala
index 48af410c45c..5bdb4e7e045 100644
--- a/supportedBackends/google/batch/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/google/batch/models/GcpBatchJobPaths.scala
+++ b/supportedBackends/google/batch/src/main/scala/cromwell/backend/google/batch/models/GcpBatchJobPaths.scala
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ case class GcpBatchJobPaths(override val workflowPaths: GcpBatchWorkflowPaths,
     s"${jobKey.node.localName}$index"
   }
 
+  override def implementsTaskLogging: Boolean = true
+
   val batchLogFilename: String = s"$batchLogBasename.log"
   lazy val batchLogPath: Path = callExecutionRoot.resolve(batchLogFilename)
 
diff --git a/supportedBackends/google/batch/src/test/scala/cromwell/backend/google/batch/actors/GcpBatchAsyncBackendJobExecutionActorSpec.scala b/supportedBackends/google/batch/src/test/scala/cromwell/backend/google/batch/actors/GcpBatchAsyncBackendJobExecutionActorSpec.scala
index ed2730db40b..8a0661a3597 100644
--- a/supportedBackends/google/batch/src/test/scala/cromwell/backend/google/batch/actors/GcpBatchAsyncBackendJobExecutionActorSpec.scala
+++ b/supportedBackends/google/batch/src/test/scala/cromwell/backend/google/batch/actors/GcpBatchAsyncBackendJobExecutionActorSpec.scala
@@ -1184,7 +1184,8 @@ class GcpBatchAsyncBackendJobExecutionActorSpec
         "runtimeAttributes:zones" -> "us-central1-b,us-central1-a",
         "runtimeAttributes:maxRetries" -> "0",
         "stderr" -> s"$batchGcsRoot/wf_hello/$workflowId/call-goodbye/stderr",
-        "stdout" -> s"$batchGcsRoot/wf_hello/$workflowId/call-goodbye/stdout"
+        "stdout" -> s"$batchGcsRoot/wf_hello/$workflowId/call-goodbye/stdout",
+        "taskLog" -> s"$batchGcsRoot/wf_hello/$workflowId/call-goodbye/task.log"
       )
     )