diff --git a/log.c b/log.c
index 32157a8..9474bad 100644
--- a/log.c
+++ b/log.c
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ static size_t	log_written;		/* Currently used bytes in log file */
 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 struct timespec log_start;	/* Start timestamp */
+struct timespec	log_start;		/* Start timestamp */
 
 int		log_trace;		/* --trace mode enabled */
 bool		log_conf_parsed;	/* Logging options already parsed */
@@ -154,8 +154,6 @@ void __openlog(const char *ident, int option, int facility)
 {
 	(void)option;
 
-	clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &log_start);
-
 	if (log_sock < 0) {
 		struct sockaddr_un a = { .sun_family = AF_UNIX, };
 
diff --git a/log.h b/log.h
index 51ddafa..e03199c 100644
--- a/log.h
+++ b/log.h
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ void logmsg_perror(int pri, const char *format, ...)
 extern int log_trace;
 extern bool log_conf_parsed;
 extern bool log_runtime;
+extern struct timespec log_start;
 
 void trace_init(int enable);
 #define trace(...)							\
diff --git a/passt.c b/passt.c
index eed74ec..72ad704 100644
--- a/passt.c
+++ b/passt.c
@@ -207,6 +207,8 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	struct timespec now;
 	struct sigaction sa;
 
+	clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &log_start);
+
 	arch_avx2_exec(argv);
 
 	isolate_initial();