diff --git a/lib/conf/conf.c b/lib/conf/conf.c
index 8ab451b35..96eefb270 100644
--- a/lib/conf/conf.c
+++ b/lib/conf/conf.c
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 
 #include "spdk/conf.h"
 #include "spdk/string.h"
+#include "spdk/log.h"
 
 struct spdk_conf_value {
 	struct spdk_conf_value *next;
@@ -262,7 +263,7 @@ append_cf_section(struct spdk_conf *cp, struct spdk_conf_section *sp)
 
 	cp = CHECK_CP_OR_USE_DEFAULT(cp);
 	if (cp == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "%s: cp == NULL\n", __func__);
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("cp == NULL\n");
 		return;
 	}
 
@@ -457,7 +458,7 @@ parse_line(struct spdk_conf *cp, char *lp)
 
 	arg = spdk_str_trim(lp);
 	if (arg == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "no section\n");
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("no section\n");
 		return -1;
 	}
 
@@ -466,7 +467,7 @@ parse_line(struct spdk_conf *cp, char *lp)
 		arg++;
 		key = spdk_strsepq(&arg, "]");
 		if (key == NULL || arg != NULL) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "broken section\n");
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("broken section\n");
 			return -1;
 		}
 		/* determine section number */
@@ -495,18 +496,18 @@ parse_line(struct spdk_conf *cp, char *lp)
 		/* parameters */
 		sp = cp->current_section;
 		if (sp == NULL) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "unknown section\n");
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("unknown section\n");
 			return -1;
 		}
 		key = spdk_strsepq(&arg, CF_DELIM);
 		if (key == NULL) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "broken key\n");
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("broken key\n");
 			return -1;
 		}
 
 		ip = allocate_cf_item();
 		if (ip == NULL) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "cannot allocate cf item\n");
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("cannot allocate cf item\n");
 			return -1;
 		}
 		append_cf_item(sp, ip);
@@ -522,8 +523,7 @@ parse_line(struct spdk_conf *cp, char *lp)
 				val = spdk_strsepq(&arg, CF_DELIM);
 				vp = allocate_cf_value();
 				if (vp == NULL) {
-					fprintf(stderr,
-						"cannot allocate cf value\n");
+					SPDK_ERRLOG("cannot allocate cf value\n");
 					return -1;
 				}
 				append_cf_value(ip, vp);
@@ -611,7 +611,7 @@ spdk_conf_read(struct spdk_conf *cp, const char *file)
 
 	fp = fopen(file, "r");
 	if (fp == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "open error: %s\n", file);
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("open error: %s\n", file);
 		return -1;
 	}
 
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ spdk_conf_read(struct spdk_conf *cp, const char *file)
 			if (!q) {
 				free(lp2);
 				free(lp);
-				fprintf(stderr, "malloc failed at line %d of %s\n", line, cp->file);
+				SPDK_ERRLOG("malloc failed at line %d of %s\n", line, cp->file);
 				fclose(fp);
 				return -1;
 			}
@@ -664,7 +664,7 @@ spdk_conf_read(struct spdk_conf *cp, const char *file)
 
 		/* parse one line */
 		if (parse_line(cp, p) < 0) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "parse error at line %d of %s\n", line, cp->file);
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("parse error at line %d of %s\n", line, cp->file);
 		}
 next_line:
 		line++;
diff --git a/lib/event/app.c b/lib/event/app.c
index 6fd69c1dd..4ce877df1 100644
--- a/lib/event/app.c
+++ b/lib/event/app.c
@@ -128,12 +128,12 @@ spdk_app_get_running_config(char **config_str, char *name)
 	/* Create temporary file to hold config */
 	fd = mkstemp(config_template);
 	if (fd == -1) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "mkstemp failed\n");
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("mkstemp failed\n");
 		return -1;
 	}
 	fp = fdopen(fd, "wb+");
 	if (NULL == fp) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "error opening tmpfile fd = %d\n", fd);
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("error opening tmpfile fd = %d\n", fd);
 		return -1;
 	}
 
@@ -154,7 +154,7 @@ spdk_app_get_running_config(char **config_str, char *name)
 	fseek(fp, 0, SEEK_SET);
 	ret = fread(*config_str, sizeof(char), length, fp);
 	if (ret < length)
-		fprintf(stderr, "%s: warning - short read\n", __func__);
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("short read\n");
 	fclose(fp);
 	(*config_str)[length] = '\0';
 
@@ -244,12 +244,12 @@ spdk_app_init(struct spdk_app_opts *opts)
 	if (opts->config_file) {
 		rc = spdk_conf_read(config, opts->config_file);
 		if (rc != 0) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "Could not read config file %s\n", opts->config_file);
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Could not read config file %s\n", opts->config_file);
 			spdk_conf_free(config);
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 		}
 		if (spdk_conf_first_section(config) == NULL) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "Invalid config file %s\n", opts->config_file);
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("Invalid config file %s\n", opts->config_file);
 			spdk_conf_free(config);
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 		}
@@ -272,21 +272,21 @@ spdk_app_init(struct spdk_app_opts *opts)
 	if (opts->log_facility == NULL) {
 		opts->log_facility = spdk_app_get_log_facility(g_spdk_app.config);
 		if (opts->log_facility == NULL) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "NULL logfacility\n");
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("NULL logfacility\n");
 			spdk_conf_free(g_spdk_app.config);
 			exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 		}
 	}
 	rc = spdk_set_log_facility(opts->log_facility);
 	if (rc < 0) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "log facility error\n");
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("log facility error\n");
 		spdk_conf_free(g_spdk_app.config);
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
 
 	rc = spdk_set_log_priority(SPDK_APP_DEFAULT_LOG_PRIORITY);
 	if (rc < 0) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "log priority error\n");
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("log priority error\n");
 		spdk_conf_free(g_spdk_app.config);
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ spdk_app_init(struct spdk_app_opts *opts)
 	 *  reactor.
 	 */
 	if (spdk_reactors_init(opts->max_delay_us)) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Invalid reactor mask.\n");
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("Invalid reactor mask.\n");
 		spdk_conf_free(g_spdk_app.config);
 		exit(EXIT_FAILURE);
 	}
diff --git a/lib/event/subsystem.c b/lib/event/subsystem.c
index 57db21a49..36db4e4af 100644
--- a/lib/event/subsystem.c
+++ b/lib/event/subsystem.c
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@
 
 #include "spdk/stdinc.h"
 
+#include "spdk/log.h"
+
 #include "spdk_internal/event.h"
 
 static TAILQ_HEAD(spdk_subsystem_list, spdk_subsystem) g_subsystems =
@@ -116,12 +118,12 @@ spdk_subsystem_init(void)
 	/* Verify that all dependency name and depends_on subsystems are registered */
 	TAILQ_FOREACH(dep, &g_depends, tailq) {
 		if (!spdk_subsystem_find(&g_subsystems, dep->name)) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "subsystem %s is missing\n", dep->name);
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("subsystem %s is missing\n", dep->name);
 			return -1;
 		}
 		if (!spdk_subsystem_find(&g_subsystems, dep->depends_on)) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "subsystem %s dependency %s is missing\n",
-				dep->name, dep->depends_on);
+			SPDK_ERRLOG("subsystem %s dependency %s is missing\n",
+				    dep->name, dep->depends_on);
 			return -1;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/lib/log/log.c b/lib/log/log.c
index 126716ab5..a3f4beb77 100644
--- a/lib/log/log.c
+++ b/lib/log/log.c
@@ -300,12 +300,12 @@ spdk_log_register_trace_flag(const char *name, struct spdk_trace_flag *flag)
 	struct spdk_trace_flag *iter;
 
 	if (name == NULL || flag == NULL) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "missing spdk_trace_flag parameters\n");
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("missing spdk_trace_flag parameters\n");
 		abort();
 	}
 
 	if (get_trace_flag(name)) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "duplicate spdk_trace_flag '%s'\n", name);
+		SPDK_ERRLOG("duplicate spdk_trace_flag '%s'\n", name);
 		abort();
 	}