diff --git a/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/Main.java b/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/Main.java
index d6cb0177..409e2b51 100644
--- a/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/Main.java
+++ b/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/Main.java
@@ -94,9 +94,16 @@ public class Main {
 			
 			// tee stdout and stderr to log file if set
 			if (args.logFile != null) {
-				File logFile = args.getLogFile();
-				FileChannel logChannel = new FileOutputStream(logFile, true).getChannel();
+				File logFile = new File(args.logFile);
+				if (!logFile.isAbsolute()) {
+					logFile = new File(new File(getApplicationFolder(), "logs"), logFile.getPath()).getAbsoluteFile(); // by default resolve relative paths against {applicationFolder}/logs/{logFile}
+				}
+				if (!logFile.exists() && !logFile.getParentFile().mkdirs() && !logFile.createNewFile()) {
+					throw new IOException("Failed to create log file: " + logFile);
+				}
 				
+				// open file channel and lock
+				FileChannel logChannel = new FileOutputStream(logFile, true).getChannel();
 				if (args.logLock) {
 					System.out.println("Locking " + logFile);
 					logChannel.lock();
diff --git a/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/cli/ArgumentBean.java b/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/cli/ArgumentBean.java
index e363d55e..668dbcf7 100644
--- a/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/cli/ArgumentBean.java
+++ b/source/net/sourceforge/filebot/cli/ArgumentBean.java
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import static java.util.Collections.*;
 import static net.sourceforge.tuned.FileUtilities.*;
 
 import java.io.File;
-import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Locale;
@@ -188,13 +187,4 @@ public class ArgumentBean {
 		return Level.parse(log.toUpperCase());
 	}
 	
-	
-	public File getLogFile() throws IOException {
-		File f = new File(logFile).getAbsoluteFile();
-		if (!f.exists() && !f.getParentFile().mkdirs() && !f.createNewFile()) {
-			throw new IOException("Failed to create log file: " + f);
-		}
-		return f;
-	}
-	
 }