diff --git a/server/core/gateway.cc b/server/core/gateway.cc
index c9c5dfde2..a2b324ce7 100644
--- a/server/core/gateway.cc
+++ b/server/core/gateway.cc
@@ -1859,9 +1859,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             goto return_main;
         }
 
-        mxs_log_set_syslog_enabled(*syslog_enabled);
-        mxs_log_set_maxlog_enabled(*maxlog_enabled);
-
         mxs_log_target_t log_target = MXS_LOG_TARGET_FS;
 
         if (to_stdout)
@@ -1876,6 +1873,9 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
             rc = MAXSCALE_BADCONFIG;
             goto return_main;
         }
+
+        mxs_log_set_syslog_enabled(*syslog_enabled);
+        mxs_log_set_maxlog_enabled(*maxlog_enabled);
     }
 
     if (!config_load_global(cnf_file_path))
diff --git a/server/core/test/canonical_tests/canonizer.cc b/server/core/test/canonical_tests/canonizer.cc
index 76471a5a2..9f8ef831d 100644
--- a/server/core/test/canonical_tests/canonizer.cc
+++ b/server/core/test/canonical_tests/canonizer.cc
@@ -37,6 +37,9 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
         return 1;
     }
 
+    mxs_log_init(NULL, NULL, MXS_LOG_TARGET_STDOUT);
+    atexit(mxs_log_finish);
+
     if (!utils_init())
     {
         cout << "Utils library init failed." << endl;
diff --git a/server/core/test/test_config.cc b/server/core/test/test_config.cc
index c6585eee5..35afdfa8a 100644
--- a/server/core/test/test_config.cc
+++ b/server/core/test/test_config.cc
@@ -379,6 +379,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         result += test_add_parameter();
         result += test_required_parameters();
         result += test_disk_space_threshold();
+        mxs_log_finish();
     }
     else
     {
diff --git a/server/core/test/test_event.cc b/server/core/test/test_event.cc
index a26f57314..2c55c0334 100644
--- a/server/core/test/test_event.cc
+++ b/server/core/test/test_event.cc
@@ -574,10 +574,10 @@ int main()
 
     srandom(time(NULL));
 
-    mxs_log_set_syslog_enabled(true);
-
     if (mxs_log_init("TEST_EVENT", ".", MXS_LOG_TARGET_DEFAULT))
     {
+        mxs_log_set_syslog_enabled(true);
+
         errors += test_levels();
         errors += test_facilities();
         errors += test_events();
diff --git a/server/core/test/test_filter.cc b/server/core/test/test_filter.cc
index d18e6bc35..943741725 100644
--- a/server/core/test/test_filter.cc
+++ b/server/core/test/test_filter.cc
@@ -147,10 +147,13 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     int result = 0;
     set_libdir(MXS_STRDUP_A("../../modules/filter/qlafilter/"));
+    mxs_log_init(NULL, NULL, MXS_LOG_TARGET_STDOUT);
 
     result += test1();
     result += test2();
     result += test3();
 
+    mxs_log_finish();
+
     exit(result);
 }
diff --git a/server/core/test/test_modulecmd.cc b/server/core/test/test_modulecmd.cc
index a8cb869f7..0e435f3b0 100644
--- a/server/core/test/test_modulecmd.cc
+++ b/server/core/test/test_modulecmd.cc
@@ -465,6 +465,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 {
     int rc = 0;
 
+    mxs_log_init(NULL, NULL, MXS_LOG_TARGET_STDOUT);
     mxs::MessageQueue::init();
 
     rc += test_arguments();
@@ -476,5 +477,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
     rc += test_domain_matching("mariadbmon", "mysqlmon",   "test_domain_matching2");
     rc += test_output();
 
+    mxs_log_finish();
     return rc;
 }
diff --git a/server/core/test/test_server.cc b/server/core/test/test_server.cc
index a06225c42..f2c1b3049 100644
--- a/server/core/test/test_server.cc
+++ b/server/core/test/test_server.cc
@@ -182,6 +182,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
      * allocation from failing if multiple modules from different directories are
      * loaded in one core function call.
      */
+    mxs_log_init(NULL, NULL, MXS_LOG_TARGET_STDOUT);
     set_libdir(MXS_STRDUP_A("../../modules/authenticator/NullAuthAllow/"));
     load_module("NullAuthAllow", MODULE_AUTHENTICATOR);
     set_libdir(MXS_STRDUP_A("../../modules/protocol/HTTPD/"));
@@ -196,5 +197,6 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         result++;
     }
 
+    mxs_log_finish();
     exit(result);
 }
diff --git a/server/core/test/test_service.cc b/server/core/test/test_service.cc
index f745a9aee..12c647de6 100644
--- a/server/core/test/test_service.cc
+++ b/server/core/test/test_service.cc
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ test1()
     int         result;
     int         argc = 3;
 
-    mxs_log_init(NULL, "/tmp", MXS_LOG_TARGET_FS);
     init_test_env(NULL);
 
     set_libdir(MXS_STRDUP_A("../../modules/authenticator/MySQLAuth/"));
diff --git a/server/core/test/test_utils.h b/server/core/test/test_utils.h
index b60cd128f..0873daac6 100644
--- a/server/core/test/test_utils.h
+++ b/server/core/test/test_utils.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ void init_test_env(char *path)
     {
         exit(1);
     }
+    atexit(mxs_log_finish);
     dcb_global_init();
     set_libdir(MXS_STRDUP(TEST_DIR "/query_classifier/qc_sqlite/"));
     qc_setup(NULL, QC_SQL_MODE_DEFAULT, NULL, NULL);
diff --git a/server/modules/filter/dbfwfilter/test/test_dbfwfilter.cc b/server/modules/filter/dbfwfilter/test/test_dbfwfilter.cc
index d0a23c072..994b99596 100644
--- a/server/modules/filter/dbfwfilter/test/test_dbfwfilter.cc
+++ b/server/modules/filter/dbfwfilter/test/test_dbfwfilter.cc
@@ -1014,6 +1014,8 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
             {
                 cerr << "error: Could not setup query classifier." << endl;
             }
+
+            mxs_log_finish();
         }
     }
     else
diff --git a/server/modules/filter/masking/test/testrules.cc b/server/modules/filter/masking/test/testrules.cc
index f0aa38e53..edb2daf93 100644
--- a/server/modules/filter/masking/test/testrules.cc
+++ b/server/modules/filter/masking/test/testrules.cc
@@ -305,6 +305,7 @@ int main()
         {
             rc = (MaskingRulesTester::test_account_handling() == EXIT_FAILURE) ? EXIT_FAILURE : EXIT_SUCCESS;
         }
+        mxs_log_finish();
     }
 
     return rc;
diff --git a/server/modules/routing/binlogrouter/maxbinlogcheck.cc b/server/modules/routing/binlogrouter/maxbinlogcheck.cc
index a7117ad1a..3e6a8d0b5 100644
--- a/server/modules/routing/binlogrouter/maxbinlogcheck.cc
+++ b/server/modules/routing/binlogrouter/maxbinlogcheck.cc
@@ -169,6 +169,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     // We ignore potential errors.
     mxs_log_init(NULL, NULL, MXS_LOG_TARGET_DEFAULT);
+    atexit(mxs_log_finish);
     mxs_log_set_augmentation(0);
     mxs_log_set_priority_enabled(LOG_DEBUG, debug_out);
 
diff --git a/server/modules/routing/binlogrouter/test/testbinlog.cc b/server/modules/routing/binlogrouter/test/testbinlog.cc
index 3918dbb30..c008a2bf3 100644
--- a/server/modules/routing/binlogrouter/test/testbinlog.cc
+++ b/server/modules/routing/binlogrouter/test/testbinlog.cc
@@ -96,6 +96,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
 
     mxs_log_init(NULL, NULL, MXS_LOG_TARGET_DEFAULT);
+    atexit(mxs_log_finish);
 
     mxs_log_set_priority_enabled(LOG_NOTICE, false);
     mxs_log_set_priority_enabled(LOG_ERR, true);