diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-clientapi/main.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-clientapi/main.go
index 925c54d68..0346785e0 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-clientapi/main.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-clientapi/main.go
@@ -20,10 +20,7 @@ func main() {
 	if bindAddr == "" {
 		log.Panic("No BIND_ADDRESS environment variable found.")
 	}
-	logDir := os.Getenv("LOG_DIR")
-	if logDir != "" {
-		common.SetupLogging(logDir)
-	}
+	common.SetupLogging(os.Getenv("LOG_DIR"))
 
 	// TODO: Rather than generating a new key on every startup, we should be
 	//       reading a PEM formatted file instead.
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-sync-server/main.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-sync-server/main.go
index a8451a45d..3dc6b6cbf 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-sync-server/main.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/cmd/dendrite-sync-server/main.go
@@ -47,10 +47,7 @@ func main() {
 	if *bindAddr == "" {
 		log.Fatal("--listen must be supplied")
 	}
-	logDir := os.Getenv("LOG_DIR")
-	if logDir != "" {
-		common.SetupLogging(logDir)
-	}
+	common.SetupLogging(os.Getenv("LOG_DIR"))
 
 	log.Info("sync server config: ", cfg)
 
diff --git a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/log.go b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/log.go
index a270a56ec..acae9ee75 100644
--- a/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/log.go
+++ b/src/github.com/matrix-org/dendrite/common/log.go
@@ -10,16 +10,22 @@ import (
 
 // SetupLogging configures the logging format and destination(s).
 func SetupLogging(logDir string) {
-	_ = os.Mkdir(logDir, os.ModePerm)
-	logrus.AddHook(dugong.NewFSHook(
-		filepath.Join(logDir, "info.log"),
-		filepath.Join(logDir, "warn.log"),
-		filepath.Join(logDir, "error.log"),
-		&logrus.TextFormatter{
-			TimestampFormat:  "2006-01-02 15:04:05.000000",
-			DisableColors:    true,
-			DisableTimestamp: false,
-			DisableSorting:   false,
-		}, &dugong.DailyRotationSchedule{GZip: true},
-	))
+	formatter := &logrus.TextFormatter{
+		TimestampFormat:  "2006-01-02 15:04:05.000000",
+		DisableColors:    true,
+		DisableTimestamp: false,
+		DisableSorting:   false,
+	}
+	if logDir != "" {
+		_ = os.Mkdir(logDir, os.ModePerm)
+		logrus.AddHook(dugong.NewFSHook(
+			filepath.Join(logDir, "info.log"),
+			filepath.Join(logDir, "warn.log"),
+			filepath.Join(logDir, "error.log"),
+			formatter,
+			&dugong.DailyRotationSchedule{GZip: true},
+		))
+	} else {
+		logrus.SetFormatter(formatter)
+	}
 }