diff --git a/src/libvirt_private.syms b/src/libvirt_private.syms
index 63d8618fa1..55822aef99 100644
--- a/src/libvirt_private.syms
+++ b/src/libvirt_private.syms
@@ -2393,6 +2393,7 @@ virGetGroupID;
 virGetGroupList;
 virGetGroupName;
 virGetHostname;
+virGetHostnameQuiet;
 virGetListenFDs;
 virGetSCSIHostNameByParentaddr;
 virGetSCSIHostNumber;
diff --git a/src/util/virlog.c b/src/util/virlog.c
index 627f4cb250..7d5a266dd4 100644
--- a/src/util/virlog.c
+++ b/src/util/virlog.c
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ static int virLogNbFilters;
  * after filtering, multiple output can be used simultaneously
  */
 struct _virLogOutput {
-    bool logVersion;
+    bool logInitMessage;
     void *data;
     virLogOutputFunc f;
     virLogCloseFunc c;
@@ -402,7 +402,7 @@ virLogDefineOutput(virLogOutputFunc f,
         goto cleanup;
     }
     ret = virLogNbOutputs++;
-    virLogOutputs[ret].logVersion = true;
+    virLogOutputs[ret].logInitMessage = true;
     virLogOutputs[ret].f = f;
     virLogOutputs[ret].c = c;
     virLogOutputs[ret].data = data;
@@ -452,6 +452,32 @@ virLogVersionString(const char **rawmsg,
     return virLogFormatString(msg, 0, NULL, VIR_LOG_INFO, VIR_LOG_VERSION_STRING);
 }
 
+/* Similar to virGetHostname() but avoids use of error
+ * reporting APIs or logging APIs, to prevent recursion
+ */
+static int
+virLogHostnameString(const char **rawmsg,
+                     char **msg)
+{
+    char *hostname = virGetHostnameQuiet();
+    char *hoststr;
+
+    if (!hostname)
+        return -1;
+
+    if (virAsprintfQuiet(&hoststr, "hostname: %s", hostname) < 0) {
+        VIR_FREE(hostname);
+        return -1;
+    }
+
+    if (virLogFormatString(msg, 0, NULL, VIR_LOG_INFO, hoststr) < 0) {
+        VIR_FREE(hoststr);
+        return -1;
+    }
+    *rawmsg = hoststr;
+    return 0;
+}
+
 
 static void
 virLogSourceUpdate(virLogSourcePtr source)
@@ -533,7 +559,7 @@ virLogVMessage(virLogSourcePtr source,
                const char *fmt,
                va_list vargs)
 {
-    static bool logVersionStderr = true;
+    static bool logInitMessageStderr = true;
     char *str = NULL;
     char *msg = NULL;
     char timestamp[VIR_TIME_STRING_BUFLEN];
@@ -583,16 +609,22 @@ virLogVMessage(virLogSourcePtr source,
      */
     for (i = 0; i < virLogNbOutputs; i++) {
         if (priority >= virLogOutputs[i].priority) {
-            if (virLogOutputs[i].logVersion) {
-                const char *rawver;
-                char *ver = NULL;
-                if (virLogVersionString(&rawver, &ver) >= 0)
+            if (virLogOutputs[i].logInitMessage) {
+                const char *rawinitmsg;
+                char *initmsg = NULL;
+                if (virLogVersionString(&rawinitmsg, &initmsg) >= 0)
                     virLogOutputs[i].f(&virLogSelf, VIR_LOG_INFO,
                                        __FILE__, __LINE__, __func__,
-                                       timestamp, NULL, 0, rawver, ver,
+                                       timestamp, NULL, 0, rawinitmsg, initmsg,
                                        virLogOutputs[i].data);
-                VIR_FREE(ver);
-                virLogOutputs[i].logVersion = false;
+                VIR_FREE(initmsg);
+                if (virLogHostnameString(&rawinitmsg, &initmsg) >= 0)
+                    virLogOutputs[i].f(&virLogSelf, VIR_LOG_INFO,
+                                       __FILE__, __LINE__, __func__,
+                                       timestamp, NULL, 0, rawinitmsg, initmsg,
+                                       virLogOutputs[i].data);
+                VIR_FREE(initmsg);
+                virLogOutputs[i].logInitMessage = false;
             }
             virLogOutputs[i].f(source, priority,
                                filename, linenr, funcname,
@@ -601,16 +633,22 @@ virLogVMessage(virLogSourcePtr source,
         }
     }
     if (virLogNbOutputs == 0) {
-        if (logVersionStderr) {
-            const char *rawver;
-            char *ver = NULL;
-            if (virLogVersionString(&rawver, &ver) >= 0)
+        if (logInitMessageStderr) {
+            const char *rawinitmsg;
+            char *initmsg = NULL;
+            if (virLogVersionString(&rawinitmsg, &initmsg) >= 0)
                 virLogOutputToFd(&virLogSelf, VIR_LOG_INFO,
                                  __FILE__, __LINE__, __func__,
-                                 timestamp, NULL, 0, rawver, ver,
+                                 timestamp, NULL, 0, rawinitmsg, initmsg,
                                  (void *) STDERR_FILENO);
-            VIR_FREE(ver);
-            logVersionStderr = false;
+            VIR_FREE(initmsg);
+            if (virLogHostnameString(&rawinitmsg, &initmsg) >= 0)
+                virLogOutputToFd(&virLogSelf, VIR_LOG_INFO,
+                                 __FILE__, __LINE__, __func__,
+                                 timestamp, NULL, 0, rawinitmsg, initmsg,
+                                 (void *) STDERR_FILENO);
+            VIR_FREE(initmsg);
+            logInitMessageStderr = false;
         }
         virLogOutputToFd(source, priority,
                          filename, linenr, funcname,
diff --git a/src/util/virutil.c b/src/util/virutil.c
index fe65faf276..177f9d75fb 100644
--- a/src/util/virutil.c
+++ b/src/util/virutil.c
@@ -662,16 +662,18 @@ char *virIndexToDiskName(int idx, const char *prefix)
  *         we got from getaddrinfo().  Return the value from gethostname()
  *         and hope for the best.
  */
-char *virGetHostname(void)
+static char *
+virGetHostnameImpl(bool quiet)
 {
     int r;
-    char hostname[HOST_NAME_MAX+1], *result;
+    char hostname[HOST_NAME_MAX+1], *result = NULL;
     struct addrinfo hints, *info;
 
     r = gethostname(hostname, sizeof(hostname));
     if (r == -1) {
-        virReportSystemError(errno,
-                             "%s", _("failed to determine host name"));
+        if (!quiet)
+            virReportSystemError(errno,
+                                 "%s", _("failed to determine host name"));
         return NULL;
     }
     NUL_TERMINATE(hostname);
@@ -683,7 +685,7 @@ char *virGetHostname(void)
          * string as-is; it's up to callers to check whether "localhost"
          * is allowed.
          */
-        ignore_value(VIR_STRDUP(result, hostname));
+        ignore_value(VIR_STRDUP_QUIET(result, hostname));
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
@@ -696,9 +698,10 @@ char *virGetHostname(void)
     hints.ai_family = AF_UNSPEC;
     r = getaddrinfo(hostname, NULL, &hints, &info);
     if (r != 0) {
-        VIR_WARN("getaddrinfo failed for '%s': %s",
-                 hostname, gai_strerror(r));
-        ignore_value(VIR_STRDUP(result, hostname));
+        if (!quiet)
+            VIR_WARN("getaddrinfo failed for '%s': %s",
+                     hostname, gai_strerror(r));
+        ignore_value(VIR_STRDUP_QUIET(result, hostname));
         goto cleanup;
     }
 
@@ -711,18 +714,34 @@ char *virGetHostname(void)
          * localhost.  Ignore the canonicalized name and just return the
          * original hostname
          */
-        ignore_value(VIR_STRDUP(result, hostname));
+        ignore_value(VIR_STRDUP_QUIET(result, hostname));
     else
         /* Caller frees this string. */
-        ignore_value(VIR_STRDUP(result, info->ai_canonname));
+        ignore_value(VIR_STRDUP_QUIET(result, info->ai_canonname));
 
     freeaddrinfo(info);
 
  cleanup:
+    if (!result)
+        virReportOOMError();
     return result;
 }
 
 
+char *
+virGetHostname(void)
+{
+    return virGetHostnameImpl(false);
+}
+
+
+char *
+virGetHostnameQuiet(void)
+{
+    return virGetHostnameImpl(true);
+}
+
+
 char *
 virGetUserDirectory(void)
 {
diff --git a/src/util/virutil.h b/src/util/virutil.h
index 02387e0a14..535807c4f7 100644
--- a/src/util/virutil.h
+++ b/src/util/virutil.h
@@ -132,6 +132,7 @@ static inline int pthread_sigmask(int how,
 # endif
 
 char *virGetHostname(void);
+char *virGetHostnameQuiet(void);
 
 char *virGetUserDirectory(void);
 char *virGetUserDirectoryByUID(uid_t uid);