diff --git a/src/doomdef.h b/src/doomdef.h
index 24b52e8d..a0896094 100644
--- a/src/doomdef.h
+++ b/src/doomdef.h
@@ -138,6 +138,7 @@
 
 #ifdef LOGMESSAGES
 extern FILE *logstream;
+extern char  logfilename[1024];
 #endif
 
 //#define DEVELOP // Disable this for release builds to remove excessive cheat commands and enable MD5 checking and stuff, all in one go. :3
diff --git a/src/sdl/i_main.c b/src/sdl/i_main.c
index e7d87631..41874e9f 100644
--- a/src/sdl/i_main.c
+++ b/src/sdl/i_main.c
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ extern int SDL_main(int argc, char *argv[]);
 
 #ifdef LOGMESSAGES
 FILE *logstream = NULL;
+char  logfilename[1024];
 #endif
 
 #ifndef DOXYGEN
@@ -130,10 +131,12 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 #ifdef LOGMESSAGES
 #ifdef DEFAULTDIR
 	if (logdir)
-		logstream = fopen(va("%s/"DEFAULTDIR"/log.txt",logdir), "wt");
+		strcpy(logfilename, va("%s/"DEFAULTDIR"/log.txt",logdir));
 	else
 #endif
-		logstream = fopen("./log.txt", "wt");
+		strcpy(logfilename, "./log.txt");
+
+	logstream = fopen(logfilename, "wt");
 #endif
 
 	//I_OutputMsg("I_StartupSystem() ...\n");
diff --git a/src/sdl/i_system.c b/src/sdl/i_system.c
index 912e3fee..37d6dd79 100644
--- a/src/sdl/i_system.c
+++ b/src/sdl/i_system.c
@@ -3075,6 +3075,7 @@ static void I_Fork(void)
 	int child;
 	int status;
 	int signum;
+	int c;
 
 	child = fork();
 
@@ -3086,7 +3087,19 @@ static void I_Fork(void)
 		case 0:
 			break;
 		default:
-			if (wait(&status) == -1)
+			if (logstream)
+				fclose(logstream);/* the child has this */
+
+			c = wait(&status);
+
+#ifdef LOGMESSAGES
+			/* By the way, exit closes files. */
+			logstream = fopen(logfilename, "at");
+#else
+			logstream = 0;
+#endif
+
+			if (c == -1)
 			{
 				kill(child, SIGKILL);
 				newsignalhandler_Warn("wait()");