diff --git a/lib/event/app.c b/lib/event/app.c
index 9ae9fbc67..8e3910bc7 100644
--- a/lib/event/app.c
+++ b/lib/event/app.c
@@ -495,7 +495,7 @@ spdk_app_setup_env(struct spdk_app_opts *opts)
 	free(env_opts.pci_whitelist);
 
 	if (rc < 0) {
-		SPDK_ERRLOG("Unable to initialize SPDK env\n");
+		fprintf(stderr, "Unable to initialize SPDK env\n");
 	}
 
 	return rc;
@@ -591,12 +591,12 @@ spdk_app_start(struct spdk_app_opts *opts, spdk_event_fn start_fn,
 	}
 
 	spdk_log_set_level(SPDK_APP_DEFAULT_LOG_LEVEL);
-	spdk_log_open();
 
 	if (spdk_app_setup_env(opts) < 0) {
-		goto app_start_log_close_err;
+		goto app_start_setup_conf_err;
 	}
 
+	spdk_log_open();
 	SPDK_NOTICELOG("Total cores available: %d\n", spdk_env_get_core_count());
 
 	spdk_thread_lib_init();