diff --git a/conf.c b/conf.c
index d9b6606..57c41e7 100644
--- a/conf.c
+++ b/conf.c
@@ -1626,9 +1626,6 @@ void conf(struct ctx *c, int argc, char **argv)
 			     logfile, logsize);
 	}
 
-	/* Once the log mask is not LOG_EARLY, we will no longer log to stderr
-	 * if there was a log file specified.
-	 */
 	if (c->debug)
 		__setlogmask(LOG_UPTO(LOG_DEBUG));
 	else if (c->quiet)
@@ -1636,6 +1633,8 @@ void conf(struct ctx *c, int argc, char **argv)
 	else
 		__setlogmask(LOG_UPTO(LOG_INFO));
 
+	log_conf_parsed = true;		/* Stop printing everything */
+
 	nl_sock_init(c, false);
 	if (!v6_only)
 		c->ifi4 = conf_ip4(ifi4, &c->ip4, c->mac);
diff --git a/log.c b/log.c
index aaf2beb..05b7f80 100644
--- a/log.c
+++ b/log.c
@@ -30,12 +30,9 @@
 #include "util.h"
 #include "passt.h"
 
-/* LOG_EARLY means we don't know yet: log everything. LOG_EMERG is unused */
-#define LOG_EARLY		LOG_MASK(LOG_EMERG)
-
 static int	log_sock = -1;		/* Optional socket to system logger */
 static char	log_ident[BUFSIZ];	/* Identifier string for openlog() */
-static int	log_mask = LOG_EARLY;	/* Current log priority mask */
+static int	log_mask;		/* Current log priority mask */
 static int	log_opt;		/* Options for openlog() */
 
 static int	log_file = -1;		/* Optional log file descriptor */
@@ -45,12 +42,13 @@ static size_t	log_cut_size;		/* Bytes to cut at start on rotation */
 static char	log_header[BUFSIZ];	/* File header, written back on cuts */
 
 static time_t	log_start;		/* Start timestamp */
+
 int		log_trace;		/* --trace mode enabled */
+bool		log_conf_parsed;	/* Logging options already parsed */
 
 void vlogmsg(int pri, const char *format, va_list ap)
 {
 	bool debug_print = (log_mask & LOG_MASK(LOG_DEBUG)) && log_file == -1;
-	bool early_print = LOG_PRI(log_mask) == LOG_EARLY;
 	struct timespec tp;
 
 	if (debug_print) {
@@ -60,7 +58,7 @@ void vlogmsg(int pri, const char *format, va_list ap)
 			(long long int)tp.tv_nsec / (100L * 1000));
 	}
 
-	if ((log_mask & LOG_MASK(LOG_PRI(pri))) || early_print) {
+	if ((log_mask & LOG_MASK(LOG_PRI(pri))) || !log_conf_parsed) {
 		va_list ap2;
 
 		va_copy(ap2, ap); /* Don't clobber ap, we need it again */
@@ -72,7 +70,7 @@ void vlogmsg(int pri, const char *format, va_list ap)
 		va_end(ap2);
 	}
 
-	if (debug_print || (early_print && !(log_opt & LOG_PERROR))) {
+	if (debug_print || (!log_conf_parsed && !(log_opt & LOG_PERROR))) {
 		(void)vfprintf(stderr, format, ap);
 		if (format[strlen(format)] != '\n')
 			fprintf(stderr, "\n");
diff --git a/log.h b/log.h
index e0aab5a..3dab284 100644
--- a/log.h
+++ b/log.h
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #ifndef LOG_H
 #define LOG_H
 
+#include <stdbool.h>
 #include <syslog.h>
 
 #define LOGFILE_SIZE_DEFAULT		(1024 * 1024UL)
@@ -28,6 +29,8 @@ void logmsg(int pri, const char *format, ...)
 	} while (0)
 
 extern int log_trace;
+extern bool log_conf_parsed;
+
 void trace_init(int enable);
 #define trace(...)							\
 	do {								\