diff --git a/packages/backend-app-api/package.json b/packages/backend-app-api/package.json
index 8c29b08c9e..ed1d2bca40 100644
--- a/packages/backend-app-api/package.json
+++ b/packages/backend-app-api/package.json
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
     "fs-extra": "10.1.0",
     "helmet": "^6.0.0",
     "minimatch": "^5.0.0",
+    "morgan": "^1.10.0",
     "node-forge": "^1.3.1",
     "selfsigned": "^2.0.0",
     "stoppable": "^1.1.0",
@@ -57,8 +58,12 @@
     "@backstage/cli": "workspace:^",
     "@types/compression": "^1.7.0",
     "@types/fs-extra": "^9.0.3",
+    "@types/http-errors": "^2.0.0",
+    "@types/morgan": "^1.9.0",
     "@types/node-forge": "^1.3.0",
-    "@types/stoppable": "^1.1.0"
+    "@types/stoppable": "^1.1.0",
+    "http-errors": "^2.0.0",
+    "supertest": "^6.1.3"
   },
   "files": [
     "dist",
diff --git a/packages/backend-app-api/src/lib/http/MiddlewareFactory.test.ts b/packages/backend-app-api/src/lib/http/MiddlewareFactory.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..64812564ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend-app-api/src/lib/http/MiddlewareFactory.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,213 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2020 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import {
+  AuthenticationError,
+  ConflictError,
+  InputError,
+  NotAllowedError,
+  NotFoundError,
+  NotModifiedError,
+} from '@backstage/errors';
+import express from 'express';
+import createError from 'http-errors';
+import request from 'supertest';
+import { MiddlewareFactory } from './MiddlewareFactory';
+import { ConfigReader } from '@backstage/config';
+
+describe('MiddlewareFactory', () => {
+  describe('middleware.error', () => {
+    const childLogger = {
+      info: jest.fn(),
+      warn: jest.fn(),
+      error: jest.fn(),
+      debug: jest.fn(),
+      child: jest.fn(),
+    };
+
+    const logger = {
+      info: jest.fn(),
+      warn: jest.fn(),
+      error: jest.fn(),
+      debug: jest.fn(),
+      child: () => childLogger,
+    };
+
+    const middleware = MiddlewareFactory.create({
+      logger,
+      config: new ConfigReader({}),
+    });
+
+    beforeEach(() => {
+      jest.resetAllMocks();
+    });
+
+    it('gives default code and message', async () => {
+      const app = express();
+      app.use('/breaks', () => {
+        throw new Error('some message');
+      });
+      app.use(middleware.error());
+
+      const response = await request(app).get('/breaks');
+
+      expect(response.status).toBe(500);
+      expect(response.body).toEqual({
+        error: expect.objectContaining({
+          name: 'Error',
+          message: 'some message',
+        }),
+        request: { method: 'GET', url: '/breaks' },
+        response: { statusCode: 500 },
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('does not try to send the response again if its already been sent', async () => {
+      const app = express();
+      const mockSend = jest.fn();
+
+      app.use('/works_with_async_fail', (_, res) => {
+        res.status(200).send('hello');
+
+        // mutate the response object to test the middleware.
+        // it's hard to catch errors inside middleware from the outside.
+        res.send = mockSend;
+        throw new Error('some message');
+      });
+
+      app.use(middleware.error());
+      const response = await request(app).get('/works_with_async_fail');
+
+      expect(response.status).toBe(200);
+      expect(response.text).toBe('hello');
+
+      expect(mockSend).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    it('takes code from http-errors library errors', async () => {
+      const app = express();
+      app.use('/breaks', () => {
+        throw createError(432, 'Some Message');
+      });
+      app.use(middleware.error());
+
+      const response = await request(app).get('/breaks');
+
+      expect(response.status).toBe(432);
+      expect(response.body).toEqual({
+        error: {
+          expose: true,
+          name: 'BadRequestError',
+          message: 'Some Message',
+          status: 432,
+          statusCode: 432,
+        },
+        request: {
+          method: 'GET',
+          url: '/breaks',
+        },
+        response: { statusCode: 432 },
+      });
+    });
+
+    it('handles well-known error classes', async () => {
+      const app = express();
+      app.use('/NotModifiedError', () => {
+        throw new NotModifiedError();
+      });
+      app.use('/InputError', () => {
+        throw new InputError();
+      });
+      app.use('/AuthenticationError', () => {
+        throw new AuthenticationError();
+      });
+      app.use('/NotAllowedError', () => {
+        throw new NotAllowedError();
+      });
+      app.use('/NotFoundError', () => {
+        throw new NotFoundError();
+      });
+      app.use('/ConflictError', () => {
+        throw new ConflictError();
+      });
+      app.use(middleware.error());
+
+      const r = request(app);
+      expect((await r.get('/NotModifiedError')).status).toBe(304);
+      expect((await r.get('/InputError')).status).toBe(400);
+      expect((await r.get('/InputError')).body.error.name).toBe('InputError');
+      expect((await r.get('/AuthenticationError')).status).toBe(401);
+      expect((await r.get('/AuthenticationError')).body.error.name).toBe(
+        'AuthenticationError',
+      );
+      expect((await r.get('/NotAllowedError')).status).toBe(403);
+      expect((await r.get('/NotAllowedError')).body.error.name).toBe(
+        'NotAllowedError',
+      );
+      expect((await r.get('/NotFoundError')).status).toBe(404);
+      expect((await r.get('/NotFoundError')).body.error.name).toBe(
+        'NotFoundError',
+      );
+      expect((await r.get('/ConflictError')).status).toBe(409);
+      expect((await r.get('/ConflictError')).body.error.name).toBe(
+        'ConflictError',
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('logs all 500 errors', async () => {
+      const app = express();
+      const thrownError = new Error('some error');
+
+      app.use('/breaks', () => {
+        throw thrownError;
+      });
+      app.use(middleware.error());
+
+      await request(app).get('/breaks');
+
+      expect(childLogger.error).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+        'Request failed with status 500',
+        thrownError,
+      );
+    });
+
+    it('does not log 400 errors', async () => {
+      const app = express();
+
+      app.use('/NotFound', () => {
+        throw new NotFoundError();
+      });
+      app.use(middleware.error());
+
+      await request(app).get('/NotFound');
+
+      expect(childLogger.error).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    it('log 400 errors when logAllErrors is true', async () => {
+      const app = express();
+
+      app.use('/NotFound', () => {
+        throw new NotFoundError();
+      });
+      app.use(middleware.error({ logAllErrors: true }));
+
+      await request(app).get('/NotFound');
+
+      expect(childLogger.error).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/backend-app-api/src/lib/http/MiddlewareFactory.ts b/packages/backend-app-api/src/lib/http/MiddlewareFactory.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ccc94779b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/backend-app-api/src/lib/http/MiddlewareFactory.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,260 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2023 The Backstage Authors
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+import { ConfigService, LoggerService } from '@backstage/backend-plugin-api';
+import { Request, Response, ErrorRequestHandler, NextFunction } from 'express';
+import cors from 'cors';
+import helmet from 'helmet';
+import morgan from 'morgan';
+import compression from 'compression';
+import { readHelmetOptions } from '../../services/implementations/rootHttpRouter/readHelmetOptions';
+import { readCorsOptions } from '../../services/implementations/rootHttpRouter/readCorsOptions';
+import {
+  AuthenticationError,
+  ConflictError,
+  ErrorResponseBody,
+  InputError,
+  NotAllowedError,
+  NotFoundError,
+  NotModifiedError,
+  serializeError,
+} from '@backstage/errors';
+
+/**
+ * Options used to create a {@link MiddlewareFactory}.
+ *
+ * @public
+ */
+export interface MiddlewareFactoryOptions {
+  config: ConfigService;
+  logger: LoggerService;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Options passed to the {@link errorHandler} middleware.
+ *
+ * @public
+ */
+export interface MiddlewareFactoryErrorOptions {
+  /**
+   * Whether error response bodies should show error stack traces or not.
+   *
+   * If not specified, by default shows stack traces only in development mode.
+   */
+  showStackTraces?: boolean;
+
+  /**
+   * Whether any 4xx errors should be logged or not.
+   *
+   * If not specified, default to only logging 5xx errors.
+   */
+  logAllErrors?: boolean;
+}
+
+/**
+ * A utility to configure common middleware.
+ *
+ * @public
+ */
+export class MiddlewareFactory {
+  #config: ConfigService;
+  #logger: LoggerService;
+
+  /**
+   * Creates a new {@link MiddlewareFactory}.
+   */
+  static create(options: MiddlewareFactoryOptions) {
+    return new MiddlewareFactory(options);
+  }
+
+  private constructor(options: MiddlewareFactoryOptions) {
+    this.#config = options.config;
+    this.#logger = options.logger;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns a middleware that unconditionally produces a 404 error response.
+   *
+   * @remarks
+   *
+   * Typically you want to place this middleware at the end of the chain, such
+   * that it's the last one attempted after no other routes matched.
+   *
+   * @returns An Express request handler
+   */
+  notFound() {
+    return (_req: Request, res: Response) => {
+      res.status(404).end();
+    };
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns the compression middleware.
+   *
+   * @remarks
+   *
+   * The middleware will attempt to compress response bodies for all requests
+   * that traverse through the middleware.
+   */
+  compression() {
+    return compression();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns a request logging middleware.
+   *
+   * @remarks
+   *
+   * Typically you want to place this middleware at the start of the chain, such
+   * that it always logs requests whether they are "caught" by handlers farther
+   * down or not.
+   *
+   * @returns An Express request handler
+   */
+  logging() {
+    const logger = this.#logger.child({
+      type: 'incomingRequest',
+    });
+
+    return morgan('combined', {
+      stream: {
+        write(message: string) {
+          logger.info(message.trimEnd());
+        },
+      },
+    });
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns a middleware that implements the helmet library.
+   *
+   * @remarks
+   *
+   * This middleware applies security policies to incoming requests and outgoing
+   * responses. It is configured using config keys such as `backend.csp`.
+   *
+   * @see {@link https://helmetjs.github.io/}
+   *
+   * @returns An Express request handler
+   */
+  helmet() {
+    return helmet(readHelmetOptions(this.#config.getOptionalConfig('backend')));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns a middleware that implements the cors library.
+   *
+   * @remarks
+   *
+   * This middleware handles CORS. It is configured using the config key
+   * `backend.cors`.
+   *
+   * @see {@link https://github.com/expressjs/cors}
+   *
+   * @returns An Express request handler
+   */
+  cors() {
+    return cors(readCorsOptions(this.#config.getOptionalConfig('backend')));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Express middleware to handle errors during request processing.
+   *
+   * @remarks
+   *
+   * This is commonly the very last middleware in the chain.
+   *
+   * Its primary purpose is not to do translation of business logic exceptions,
+   * but rather to be a global catch-all for uncaught "fatal" errors that are
+   * expected to result in a 500 error. However, it also does handle some common
+   * error types (such as http-error exceptions, and the well-known error types
+   * in the `@backstage/errors` package) and returns the enclosed status code
+   * accordingly.
+   *
+   * It will also produce a response body with a serialized form of the error,
+   * unless a previous handler already did send a body. See
+   * {@link @backstage/errors#ErrorResponseBody} for the response shape used.
+   *
+   * @returns An Express error request handler
+   */
+  error(options: MiddlewareFactoryErrorOptions = {}): ErrorRequestHandler {
+    const showStackTraces =
+      options.showStackTraces ?? process.env.NODE_ENV === 'development';
+
+    const logger = this.#logger.child({
+      type: 'errorHandler',
+    });
+
+    return (error: Error, req: Request, res: Response, next: NextFunction) => {
+      const statusCode = getStatusCode(error);
+      if (options.logAllErrors || statusCode >= 500) {
+        logger.error(`Request failed with status ${statusCode}`, error);
+      }
+
+      if (res.headersSent) {
+        // If the headers have already been sent, do not send the response again
+        // as this will throw an error in the backend.
+        next(error);
+        return;
+      }
+
+      const body: ErrorResponseBody = {
+        error: serializeError(error, { includeStack: showStackTraces }),
+        request: { method: req.method, url: req.url },
+        response: { statusCode },
+      };
+
+      res.status(statusCode).json(body);
+    };
+  }
+}
+
+function getStatusCode(error: Error): number {
+  // Look for common http library status codes
+  const knownStatusCodeFields = ['statusCode', 'status'];
+  for (const field of knownStatusCodeFields) {
+    const statusCode = (error as any)[field];
+    if (
+      typeof statusCode === 'number' &&
+      (statusCode | 0) === statusCode && // is whole integer
+      statusCode >= 100 &&
+      statusCode <= 599
+    ) {
+      return statusCode;
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Handle well-known error types
+  switch (error.name) {
+    case NotModifiedError.name:
+      return 304;
+    case InputError.name:
+      return 400;
+    case AuthenticationError.name:
+      return 401;
+    case NotAllowedError.name:
+      return 403;
+    case NotFoundError.name:
+      return 404;
+    case ConflictError.name:
+      return 409;
+    default:
+      break;
+  }
+
+  // Fall back to internal server error
+  return 500;
+}
diff --git a/packages/backend-app-api/src/lib/http/index.ts b/packages/backend-app-api/src/lib/http/index.ts
index 94ab61f6c8..db579d1b44 100644
--- a/packages/backend-app-api/src/lib/http/index.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-app-api/src/lib/http/index.ts
@@ -23,3 +23,5 @@ export type {
   HttpServerCertificateOptions,
   ExtendedHttpServer,
 } from './types';
+export { MiddlewareFactory } from './MiddlewareFactory';
+export type { MiddlewareFactoryOptions } from './MiddlewareFactory';
diff --git a/packages/backend-app-api/src/services/implementations/rootHttpRouter/rootHttpRouterFactory.ts b/packages/backend-app-api/src/services/implementations/rootHttpRouter/rootHttpRouterFactory.ts
index d491663ff8..f82cfe4a69 100644
--- a/packages/backend-app-api/src/services/implementations/rootHttpRouter/rootHttpRouterFactory.ts
+++ b/packages/backend-app-api/src/services/implementations/rootHttpRouter/rootHttpRouterFactory.ts
@@ -15,22 +15,24 @@
  */
 
 import {
-  createServiceFactory,
+  ConfigService,
   coreServices,
+  createServiceFactory,
+  LifecycleService,
+  LoggerService,
 } from '@backstage/backend-plugin-api';
-import express from 'express';
-import compression from 'compression';
-import cors from 'cors';
-import helmet from 'helmet';
+import express, { RequestHandler, Express } from 'express';
+import { MiddlewareFactory, startHttpServer } from '../../../lib/http';
 import { RestrictedIndexedRouter } from './RestrictedIndexedRouter';
-import { readCorsOptions } from './readCorsOptions';
-import { startHttpServer } from '../../../lib/http';
-import { readHelmetOptions } from './readHelmetOptions';
-import {
-  errorHandler,
-  notFoundHandler,
-  requestLoggingHandler,
-} from '@backstage/backend-common';
+
+interface RootHttpRouterConfigureOptions {
+  app: Express;
+  middleware: MiddlewareFactory;
+  routes: RequestHandler;
+  config: ConfigService;
+  logger: LoggerService;
+  lifecycle: LifecycleService;
+}
 
 /**
  * @public
@@ -40,8 +42,24 @@ export type RootHttpRouterFactoryOptions = {
    * The path to forward all unmatched requests to. Defaults to '/api/app'
    */
   indexPath?: string | false;
+
+  configure?(options: RootHttpRouterConfigureOptions): void;
 };
 
+function defaultConfigure({
+  app,
+  routes,
+  middleware,
+}: RootHttpRouterConfigureOptions) {
+  app.use(middleware.helmet());
+  app.use(middleware.cors());
+  app.use(middleware.compression());
+  app.use(middleware.logging());
+  app.use(routes);
+  app.use(middleware.notFound());
+  app.use(middleware.error());
+}
+
 /** @public */
 export const rootHttpRouterFactory = createServiceFactory({
   service: coreServices.rootHttpRouter,
@@ -52,19 +70,25 @@ export const rootHttpRouterFactory = createServiceFactory({
   },
   async factory(
     { config, logger, lifecycle },
-    { indexPath }: RootHttpRouterFactoryOptions = {},
+    {
+      indexPath,
+      configure = defaultConfigure,
+    }: RootHttpRouterFactoryOptions = {},
   ) {
     const router = new RestrictedIndexedRouter(indexPath ?? '/api/app');
 
     const app = express();
 
-    app.use(helmet(readHelmetOptions(config.getOptionalConfig('backend'))));
-    app.use(cors(readCorsOptions(config.getOptionalConfig('backend'))));
-    app.use(compression());
-    app.use(requestLoggingHandler(logger));
-    app.use(router.handler());
-    app.use(notFoundHandler());
-    app.use(errorHandler({ logger }));
+    const middleware = MiddlewareFactory.create({ config, logger });
+
+    configure({
+      app,
+      routes: router.handler(),
+      middleware,
+      config,
+      logger,
+      lifecycle,
+    });
 
     await startHttpServer(app, { config, logger, lifecycle });
 
diff --git a/yarn.lock b/yarn.lock
index 6409539d39..ed60523406 100644
--- a/yarn.lock
+++ b/yarn.lock
@@ -3388,6 +3388,8 @@ __metadata:
     "@types/cors": ^2.8.6
     "@types/express": ^4.17.6
     "@types/fs-extra": ^9.0.3
+    "@types/http-errors": ^2.0.0
+    "@types/morgan": ^1.9.0
     "@types/node-forge": ^1.3.0
     "@types/stoppable": ^1.1.0
     compression: ^1.7.4
@@ -3396,10 +3398,13 @@ __metadata:
     express-promise-router: ^4.1.0
     fs-extra: 10.1.0
     helmet: ^6.0.0
+    http-errors: ^2.0.0
     minimatch: ^5.0.0
+    morgan: ^1.10.0
     node-forge: ^1.3.1
     selfsigned: ^2.0.0
     stoppable: ^1.1.0
+    supertest: ^6.1.3
     winston: ^3.2.1
   languageName: unknown
   linkType: soft