diff --git a/logger.go b/logger.go
index 4ed33ef..4fe99e8 100644
--- a/logger.go
+++ b/logger.go
@@ -16,7 +16,9 @@ func setupLogger() {
 	log = logrus.New()
 
 	// Handle logfile
-	if (*logFile != "") {
+	if (*logFile == "") {
+		log.SetOutput(os.Stderr)
+	} else {
 		writer, err := os.OpenFile(*logFile, os.O_CREATE|os.O_RDWR|os.O_APPEND, 0600)
 		if err != nil {
 			fmt.Printf("cannot open log file: %s\n", err)
diff --git a/smtprelay.ini b/smtprelay.ini
index d0120bc..50d2c93 100644
--- a/smtprelay.ini
+++ b/smtprelay.ini
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ; smtprelay configuration
 
-; Logfile
+; Logfile (blank/default is stderr)
 ;logfile = 
 
 ; Log format: default, plain (no timestamp), json