diff --git a/src/admin/libvirt-admin.c b/src/admin/libvirt-admin.c
index a3164a2395..01546a7bc2 100644
--- a/src/admin/libvirt-admin.c
+++ b/src/admin/libvirt-admin.c
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ virAdmGlobalInit(void)
     if (virErrorInitialize() < 0)
         goto error;
 
-    virLogSetFromEnv();
+    if (virLogSetFromEnv() < 0)
+        goto error;
 
 #ifdef WITH_LIBINTL_H
     if (!bindtextdomain(PACKAGE, LOCALEDIR))
diff --git a/src/libvirt.c b/src/libvirt.c
index ef9fc403d0..35fd74fe08 100644
--- a/src/libvirt.c
+++ b/src/libvirt.c
@@ -232,7 +232,8 @@ virGlobalInit(void)
         goto error;
     }
 
-    virLogSetFromEnv();
+    if (virLogSetFromEnv() < 0)
+        goto error;
 
     virNetTLSInit();
 
diff --git a/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c b/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
index 67ebed361a..3c930eaacd 100644
--- a/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
+++ b/src/lxc/lxc_controller.c
@@ -2503,7 +2503,8 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
     }
 
     /* Initialize logging */
-    virLogSetFromEnv();
+    if (virLogSetFromEnv() < 0)
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 
     while (1) {
         int c;
diff --git a/src/remote/remote_ssh_helper.c b/src/remote/remote_ssh_helper.c
index 4f4dbff7d0..78f02020a7 100644
--- a/src/remote/remote_ssh_helper.c
+++ b/src/remote/remote_ssh_helper.c
@@ -402,7 +402,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     virFileActivateDirOverrideForProg(argv[0]);
 
     /* Initialize the log system */
-    virLogSetFromEnv();
+    if (virLogSetFromEnv() < 0)
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 
     uri_str = argv[1];
     VIR_DEBUG("Using URI %s", uri_str);
diff --git a/src/security/virt-aa-helper.c b/src/security/virt-aa-helper.c
index b7ffb5e2c3..28717b7e38 100644
--- a/src/security/virt-aa-helper.c
+++ b/src/security/virt-aa-helper.c
@@ -1449,7 +1449,8 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
     virFileActivateDirOverrideForProg(argv[0]);
 
     /* Initialize the log system */
-    virLogSetFromEnv();
+    if (virLogSetFromEnv() < 0)
+        exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 
     /* clear the environment */
     environ = NULL;
diff --git a/src/util/vircommand.c b/src/util/vircommand.c
index ba5a209076..3b8c1c65c1 100644
--- a/src/util/vircommand.c
+++ b/src/util/vircommand.c
@@ -751,7 +751,8 @@ virExec(virCommand *cmd)
     VIR_FORCE_CLOSE(null);
 
     /* Initialize full logging for a while */
-    virLogSetFromEnv();
+    if (virLogSetFromEnv() < 0)
+        goto fork_error;
 
     if (cmd->pidfile &&
         virPipe(pipesync) < 0)
diff --git a/src/util/virdaemon.c b/src/util/virdaemon.c
index 7952063012..5c0ca534cf 100644
--- a/src/util/virdaemon.c
+++ b/src/util/virdaemon.c
@@ -183,7 +183,8 @@ virDaemonSetupLogging(const char *daemon_name,
         return -1;
 
     /* If there are some environment variables defined, use those instead */
-    virLogSetFromEnv();
+    if (virLogSetFromEnv() < 0)
+        return -1;
 
     /*
      * Command line override for --verbose
diff --git a/src/util/virlog.c b/src/util/virlog.c
index 5848940c6c..139dce8d02 100644
--- a/src/util/virlog.c
+++ b/src/util/virlog.c
@@ -1200,24 +1200,34 @@ virLogParseDefaultPriority(const char *priority)
  *
  * Sets virLogDefaultPriority, virLogFilters and virLogOutputs based on
  * environment variables.
+ *
+ * This function might fail which should also make the caller fail.
  */
-void
+int
 virLogSetFromEnv(void)
 {
     const char *debugEnv;
 
     if (virLogInitialize() < 0)
-        return;
+        return -1;
 
     debugEnv = getenv("LIBVIRT_DEBUG");
-    if (debugEnv && *debugEnv)
-        virLogSetDefaultPriority(virLogParseDefaultPriority(debugEnv));
+    if (debugEnv && *debugEnv) {
+        int priority = virLogParseDefaultPriority(debugEnv);
+        if (priority < 0 ||
+            virLogSetDefaultPriority(priority) < 0)
+            return -1;
+    }
     debugEnv = getenv("LIBVIRT_LOG_FILTERS");
-    if (debugEnv && *debugEnv)
-        virLogSetFilters(debugEnv);
+    if (debugEnv && *debugEnv &&
+        virLogSetFilters(debugEnv))
+        return -1;
     debugEnv = getenv("LIBVIRT_LOG_OUTPUTS");
-    if (debugEnv && *debugEnv)
-        virLogSetOutputs(debugEnv);
+    if (debugEnv && *debugEnv &&
+        virLogSetOutputs(debugEnv))
+        return -1;
+
+    return 0;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/util/virlog.h b/src/util/virlog.h
index a04811e408..4f755c543b 100644
--- a/src/util/virlog.h
+++ b/src/util/virlog.h
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ char *virLogGetFilters(void);
 char *virLogGetOutputs(void);
 virLogPriority virLogGetDefaultPriority(void);
 int virLogSetDefaultPriority(virLogPriority priority);
-void virLogSetFromEnv(void);
+int virLogSetFromEnv(void) G_GNUC_WARN_UNUSED_RESULT;
 void virLogOutputFree(virLogOutput *output);
 void virLogOutputListFree(virLogOutput **list, int count);
 void virLogFilterFree(virLogFilter *filter);
diff --git a/tests/testutils.c b/tests/testutils.c
index 65f02e0231..322c3b9400 100644
--- a/tests/testutils.c
+++ b/tests/testutils.c
@@ -835,7 +835,9 @@ int virTestMain(int argc,
     if (virErrorInitialize() < 0)
         return EXIT_FAILURE;
 
-    virLogSetFromEnv();
+    if (virLogSetFromEnv() < 0)
+        return EXIT_FAILURE;
+
     if (!getenv("LIBVIRT_DEBUG") && !virLogGetNbOutputs()) {
         if (!(output = virLogOutputNew(virtTestLogOutput, virtTestLogClose,
                                        &testLog, VIR_LOG_DEBUG,