diff --git a/lib/libalpm/log.c b/lib/libalpm/log.c
index 602dd371..43837357 100644
--- a/lib/libalpm/log.c
+++ b/lib/libalpm/log.c
@@ -34,6 +34,17 @@
  * @{
  */
 
+static int _alpm_log_leader(FILE *f, const char *prefix)
+{
+	time_t t = time(NULL);
+	struct tm *tm = localtime(&t);
+
+	/* Use ISO-8601 date format */
+	return fprintf(f, "[%04d-%02d-%02d %02d:%02d] [%s] ",
+			tm->tm_year + 1900, tm->tm_mon + 1, tm->tm_mday,
+			tm->tm_hour, tm->tm_min, prefix);
+}
+
 /** A printf-like function for logging.
  * @param handle the context handle
  * @param prefix caller-specific prefix for the log
@@ -84,14 +95,11 @@ int SYMEXPORT alpm_logaction(alpm_handle_t *handle, const char *prefix,
 	}
 
 	if(handle->logstream) {
-		time_t t = time(NULL);
-		struct tm *tm = localtime(&t);
-
-		/* Use ISO-8601 date format */
-		fprintf(handle->logstream, "[%04d-%02d-%02d %02d:%02d] [%s] ",
-						tm->tm_year + 1900, tm->tm_mon + 1, tm->tm_mday,
-						tm->tm_hour, tm->tm_min, prefix);
-		ret = vfprintf(handle->logstream, fmt, args);
+		if(_alpm_log_leader(handle->logstream, prefix) < 0
+				|| vfprintf(handle->logstream, fmt, args) < 0) {
+			ret = -1;
+			handle->pm_errno = ALPM_ERR_SYSTEM;
+		}
 		fflush(handle->logstream);
 	}