diff --git a/docs/tcp.md b/docs/tcp.md
index 95438b8..9d5302b 100644
--- a/docs/tcp.md
+++ b/docs/tcp.md
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ The TCP appender sends log events to a master server over TCP sockets. It can be
 * `type` - `tcp`
 * `port` - `integer` (optional, defaults to `5000`) - the port to send to
 * `host` - `string` (optional, defaults to `localhost`) - the host/IP address to send to
+* `endMsg` - `string` (optional, defaults to `__LOG4JS__`) - the delimiter that marks the end of a log message
+* `layout` - `object` (optional, defaults to a serialized log event) - see [layouts](layouts.md)
 
 ## Example
 ```javascript
diff --git a/lib/appenders/tcp.js b/lib/appenders/tcp.js
index 38d3a41..dd24749 100644
--- a/lib/appenders/tcp.js
+++ b/lib/appenders/tcp.js
@@ -3,15 +3,16 @@
 const debug = require('debug')('log4js:tcp');
 const net = require('net');
 
-function appender(config) {
+function appender(config, layout) {
   let canWrite = false;
   const buffer = [];
   let socket;
   let shutdownAttempts = 3;
+  let endMsg = '__LOG4JS__';
 
   function write(loggingEvent) {
     debug('Writing log event to socket');
-    canWrite = socket.write(`${loggingEvent.serialise()}__LOG4JS__`, 'utf8');
+    canWrite = socket.write(`${layout(loggingEvent)}${endMsg}`, 'utf8');
   }
 
   function emptyBuffer() {
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ function appender(config) {
 
   function createSocket() {
     debug(`appender creating socket to ${config.host || 'localhost'}:${config.port || 5000}`);
+    endMsg = `${config.endMsg || '__LOG4JS__'}`;
     socket = net.createConnection(config.port || 5000, config.host || 'localhost');
     socket.on('connect', () => {
       debug('socket connected');
@@ -68,9 +70,15 @@ function appender(config) {
   return log;
 }
 
-function configure(config) {
+function configure(config, layouts) {
   debug(`configure with config = ${config}`);
-  return appender(config);
+  let layout = function (loggingEvent) {
+    return loggingEvent.serialise();
+  };
+  if (config.layout) {
+    layout = layouts.layout(config.layout.type, config.layout);
+  }
+  return appender(config, layout);
 }
 
 module.exports.configure = configure;
diff --git a/test/tap/tcp-appender-test.js b/test/tap/tcp-appender-test.js
index 57a5667..0f855fd 100644
--- a/test/tap/tcp-appender-test.js
+++ b/test/tap/tcp-appender-test.js
@@ -3,39 +3,57 @@ const net = require("net");
 const log4js = require("../../lib/log4js");
 const LoggingEvent = require("../../lib/LoggingEvent");
 
-const messages = [];
-const server = net.createServer(socket => {
-  socket.setEncoding("utf8");
-  socket.on("data", data => {
-    data
-      .split("__LOG4JS__")
-      .filter(s => s.length)
-      .forEach(s => {
-        messages.push(LoggingEvent.deserialise(s));
-      });
+let messages = [];
+let server = null;
+
+function makeServer(config) {
+
+  server = net.createServer(socket => {
+    socket.setEncoding("utf8");
+
+    socket.on("data", data => {
+      data
+        .split(config.endMsg)
+        .filter(s => s.length)
+        .forEach(s => {
+          messages.push(config.deserialise(s));
+        });
+    });
   });
-});
 
-server.unref();
+  server.unref();
 
-server.listen(() => {
-  const { port } = server.address();
-  log4js.configure({
-    appenders: {
-      tcp: { type: "tcp", port }
-    },
-    categories: {
-      default: { appenders: ["tcp"], level: "debug" }
+  return server;
+}
+
+test("TCP Appender", batch => {
+
+  batch.test("Default Configuration", t => {
+    messages = [];
+
+    const serverConfig = {
+      endMsg: "__LOG4JS__",
+      deserialise: (log) => { return LoggingEvent.deserialise(log); }
     }
-  });
+    server = makeServer(serverConfig);
 
-  const logger = log4js.getLogger();
-  logger.info("This should be sent via TCP.");
-  logger.info("This should also be sent via TCP and not break things.");
-  log4js.shutdown(() => {
-    server.close(() => {
-      test("TCP Appender", batch => {
-        batch.test("should send log messages as JSON over TCP", t => {
+    server.listen(() => {
+      const { port } = server.address();
+      log4js.configure({
+        appenders: {
+          default: { type: "tcp", port },
+        },
+        categories: {
+          default: { appenders: ["default"], level: "debug" },
+        }
+      });
+
+      const logger = log4js.getLogger();
+      logger.info("This should be sent via TCP.");
+      logger.info("This should also be sent via TCP and not break things.");
+
+      log4js.shutdown(() => {
+        server.close(() => {
           t.equal(messages.length, 2);
           t.match(messages[0], {
             data: ["This should be sent via TCP."],
@@ -51,8 +69,109 @@ server.listen(() => {
           });
           t.end();
         });
-        batch.end();
       });
     });
   });
+
+  batch.test("Custom EndMessage String", t => {
+    messages = [];
+
+    const serverConfig = {
+      endMsg: "\n",
+      deserialise: (log) => { return LoggingEvent.deserialise(log); }
+    }
+    server = makeServer(serverConfig);
+
+    server.listen(() => {
+      const { port } = server.address();
+      log4js.configure({
+        appenders: {
+          customEndMsg: { type: "tcp", port, endMsg: "\n" },
+        },
+        categories: {
+          default: { appenders: ["customEndMsg"], level: "debug" },
+        }
+      });
+
+      const logger = log4js.getLogger();
+      logger.info("This should be sent via TCP using a custom EndMsg string.");
+      logger.info("This should also be sent via TCP using a custom EndMsg string and not break things.");
+
+      log4js.shutdown(() => {
+        server.close(() => {
+          t.equal(messages.length, 2);
+          t.match(messages[0], {
+            data: ["This should be sent via TCP using a custom EndMsg string."],
+            categoryName: "default",
+            context: {},
+            level: { levelStr: "INFO" }
+          });
+          t.match(messages[1], {
+            data: ["This should also be sent via TCP using a custom EndMsg string and not break things."],
+            categoryName: "default",
+            context: {},
+            level: { levelStr: "INFO" }
+          });
+          t.end();
+        });
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
+
+  batch.test("Custom Layout", t => {
+    messages = [];
+
+    const serverConfig = {
+      endMsg: "__LOG4JS__",
+      deserialise: (log) => { return JSON.parse(log); }
+    }
+    server = makeServer(serverConfig);
+
+    log4js.addLayout('json', function () {
+      return function (logEvent) {
+        return JSON.stringify({
+          "time": logEvent.startTime,
+          "message": logEvent.data[0],
+          "level": logEvent.level.toString()
+        });
+      }
+    });
+
+    server.listen(() => {
+      const { port } = server.address();
+      log4js.configure({
+        appenders: {
+          customLayout: {
+            type: "tcp", port,
+            layout: { type: 'json' }
+          },
+        },
+        categories: {
+          default: { appenders: ["customLayout"], level: "debug" },
+        }
+      });
+
+      const logger = log4js.getLogger();
+      logger.info("This should be sent as a customized json.");
+      logger.info("This should also be sent via TCP as a customized json and not break things.");
+
+      log4js.shutdown(() => {
+        server.close(() => {
+          t.equal(messages.length, 2);
+          t.match(messages[0], {
+            message: "This should be sent as a customized json.",
+            level: "INFO"
+          });
+          t.match(messages[1], {
+            message: "This should also be sent via TCP as a customized json and not break things.",
+            level: "INFO"
+          });
+          t.end();
+        });
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
+  batch.end();
 });