diff --git a/log.c b/log.c
index a72b871..9ed6bc1 100644
--- a/log.c
+++ b/log.c
@@ -191,7 +191,7 @@ void passt_vsyslog(int pri, const char *format, va_list ap)
 	if (format[strlen(format)] != '\n')
 		n += snprintf(buf + n, BUFSIZ - n, "\n");
 
-	if (log_sock >= 0 && send(log_sock, buf, n, 0) != n)
+	if (log_sock >= 0 && send(log_sock, buf, n, 0) != n && !log_runtime)
 		fprintf(stderr, "Failed to send %i bytes to syslog\n", n);
 }