diff --git a/lib/libc/gen/syslog.c b/lib/libc/gen/syslog.c
index 6357761cad43..3a5cafec51c2 100644
--- a/lib/libc/gen/syslog.c
+++ b/lib/libc/gen/syslog.c
@@ -341,9 +341,9 @@ connectlog(void)
 	struct sockaddr_un SyslogAddr;	/* AF_UNIX address of local logger */
 
 	if (LogFile == -1) {
-		if ((LogFile = _socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_DGRAM, 0)) == -1)
+		if ((LogFile = _socket(AF_UNIX, SOCK_DGRAM | SOCK_CLOEXEC,
+		    0)) == -1)
 			return;
-		(void)_fcntl(LogFile, F_SETFD, FD_CLOEXEC);
 	}
 	if (LogFile != -1 && status == NOCONN) {
 		SyslogAddr.sun_len = sizeof(SyslogAddr);