diff --git a/src/say.c b/src/say.c
index a6cf25e5fe143c3b936e9cbc4af57a0e36ca8e71..44e1d22a81c423bdc155125da24ad19730dd6887 100644
--- a/src/say.c
+++ b/src/say.c
@@ -52,8 +52,7 @@ int log_level = S_INFO;
 static const char logger_syntax_reminder[] =
 	"expecting a file name or a prefix, such as '|', 'pipe:', 'syslog:'";
 
-static bool booting = true;
-static enum say_logger_type logger_type = SAY_LOGGER_STDERR;
+static enum say_logger_type logger_type = SAY_LOGGER_BOOT;
 static bool logger_background = true;
 static int logger_nonblock;
 
@@ -367,6 +366,8 @@ say_logger_init(const char *init_str, int level, int nonblock, int background)
 				fcntl(log_fd, F_SETFL, flags | O_NONBLOCK) < 0)
 				say_syserror("fcntl, fd=%i", log_fd);
 		}
+	} else {
+		logger_type = SAY_LOGGER_STDERR;
 	}
 
 	if (background) {
@@ -384,7 +385,6 @@ say_logger_init(const char *init_str, int level, int nonblock, int background)
 			dup2(log_fd, STDOUT_FILENO);
 		}
 	}
-	booting = false;
 }
 
 void
@@ -529,7 +529,7 @@ vsay(int level, const char *filename, int line, const char *error,
 			filename = f + 1;
 
 	int total;
-	if (booting) {
+	if (logger_type == SAY_LOGGER_BOOT) {
 		total = say_format_boot(buf, sizeof(buf), error, format, ap);
 		assert(total >= 0);
 		(void) write(STDERR_FILENO, buf, total);
diff --git a/src/say.h b/src/say.h
index fd765b1ac613be5ff613738e7684525da46b280a..351ff97fad081e1b995634d9e62a8508159e15fa 100644
--- a/src/say.h
+++ b/src/say.h
@@ -148,6 +148,7 @@ say_check_init_str(const char *str, char **error);
 /* internals, for unit testing */
 
 enum say_logger_type {
+	SAY_LOGGER_BOOT,
 	SAY_LOGGER_STDERR,
 	SAY_LOGGER_FILE,
 	SAY_LOGGER_PIPE,
diff --git a/test/unit/say.c b/test/unit/say.c
index 237304cdb372f8bdc68654a2d837765f317835aa..762b0ead5add9b153e6be8e2f7de4bf4c9dc011f 100644
--- a/test/unit/say.c
+++ b/test/unit/say.c
@@ -10,6 +10,8 @@ parse_logger_type(const char *input)
 
 	if (rc == 0)
 		switch (type) {
+		case SAY_LOGGER_BOOT:
+			note("type: boot"); break;
 		case SAY_LOGGER_STDERR:
 			note("type: stderr"); break;
 		case SAY_LOGGER_FILE: