diff --git a/logging.c b/logging.c
index 0f73a45..828ae30 100644
--- a/logging.c
+++ b/logging.c
@@ -184,9 +184,13 @@ LOG_OpenFileLog(const char *log_file)
 {
   FILE *f;
 
-  f = fopen(log_file, "a");
-  if (!f)
-    LOG_FATAL("Could not open log file %s", log_file);
+  if (log_file) {
+    f = fopen(log_file, "a");
+    if (!f)
+      LOG_FATAL("Could not open log file %s", log_file);
+  } else {
+    f = stderr;
+  }
 
   /* Enable line buffering */
   setvbuf(f, NULL, _IOLBF, BUFSIZ);
diff --git a/logging.h b/logging.h
index 5bb46f5..67931dc 100644
--- a/logging.h
+++ b/logging.h
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ extern void LOG_Message(LOG_Severity severity, const char *format, ...);
    */
 extern void LOG_SetDebugLevel(int level);
 
-/* Log messages to a file instead of stderr */
+/* Log messages to a file instead of stderr, or stderr again if NULL */
 extern void LOG_OpenFileLog(const char *log_file);
 
 /* Log messages to syslog instead of stderr */