diff --git a/src/common/rclinit.cpp b/src/common/rclinit.cpp
index 7215d304..bd44ba66 100644
--- a/src/common/rclinit.cpp
+++ b/src/common/rclinit.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #ifndef lint
-static char rcsid[] = "@(#$Id: rclinit.cpp,v 1.7 2006-11-08 07:22:14 dockes Exp $ (C) 2004 J.F.Dockes";
+static char rcsid[] = "@(#$Id: rclinit.cpp,v 1.8 2006-11-08 15:34:20 dockes Exp $ (C) 2004 J.F.Dockes";
 #endif
 /*
  *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
@@ -68,8 +68,9 @@ RclConfig *recollinit(RclInitFlags flags,
     // Initialize logging
     if (!logfilename.empty()) {
 	logfilename = path_tildexpand(logfilename);
-	// If not an absolute path, compute relative to config dir
-	if (logfilename.at(0) != '/') {
+	// If not an absolute path or , compute relative to config dir
+	if (logfilename.at(0) != '/' && 
+	    !DebugLog::DebugLog::isspecialname(logfilename.c_str())) {
 	    logfilename = path_cat(config->getConfDir(), logfilename);
 	}
 	DebugLog::setfilename(logfilename.c_str());
diff --git a/src/utils/debuglog.cpp b/src/utils/debuglog.cpp
index 39c35bfd..3fe79976 100755
--- a/src/utils/debuglog.cpp
+++ b/src/utils/debuglog.cpp
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 #ifndef lint
-static char rcsid [] = "@(#$Id: debuglog.cpp,v 1.3 2006-01-23 13:32:28 dockes Exp $  (C) 2002 OKYZ";
+static char rcsid [] = "@(#$Id: debuglog.cpp,v 1.4 2006-11-08 15:34:20 dockes Exp $  (C) 2002 OKYZ";
 #endif
 /*
  *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
@@ -43,6 +43,11 @@ namespace DebugLog {
 
 #endif // NO_NAMESPACES
 
+bool DebugLog::isspecialname(const char *logname) 
+{
+    return !strcmp(logname, "stdout") || !strcmp(logname, "stderr");
+}
+
 class DebugLogWriter {
   public:
     virtual ~DebugLogWriter() {}
diff --git a/src/utils/debuglog.h b/src/utils/debuglog.h
index 02cd7833..b63ceff3 100755
--- a/src/utils/debuglog.h
+++ b/src/utils/debuglog.h
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ class DebugLog {
     virtual void pushlevel(int lev);
     virtual void poplevel();
     virtual void logdate(int onoff) {dodate = onoff;}
+    static bool isspecialname(const char *logname);
 };
 
 extern DebugLog *getdbl();