diff --git a/lib/util/util.js b/lib/util/util.js
index 68a1a41e6..27f8e86d9 100644
--- a/lib/util/util.js
+++ b/lib/util/util.js
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ const process = require('node:process');
 const toposort = require('toposort');
 const winston = require('winston');
 const child_process = require('node:child_process');
+const fs = require('node:fs');
 
 /**
  * Util that contains logger and simple util methods
@@ -292,6 +293,7 @@ const Util = {
     },
 
     loggerTransports: null,
+    loggedErrors: false,
     /**
      * Logger that creates timestamped log file in 'logs/' directory
      *
@@ -324,6 +326,27 @@ const Util = {
             levels: winston.config.npm.levels,
             transports: Object.values(Util.loggerTransports),
         });
+
+        process.on('exit', () => {
+            // * this is a workaround for as long as winston logger cannot be told to only create the error log file if there was an error
+            if (
+                !Util.loggedErrors &&
+                Util.loggerTransports?.fileError &&
+                !noLogFile &&
+                !Util.OPTIONS?.noLogFile
+            ) {
+                try {
+                    fs.unlinkSync(
+                        Util.loggerTransports?.fileError.filename.startsWith('logs/')
+                            ? Util.loggerTransports?.fileError.filename
+                            : 'logs/' + Util.loggerTransports?.fileError.filename
+                    );
+                } catch {
+                    // fail silently
+                }
+            }
+        });
+
         const winstonError = myWinston.error;
         const winstonExtension = {
             /**
@@ -373,6 +396,7 @@ const Util = {
              */
             error: function (msg) {
                 winstonError(msg);
+                Util.loggedErrors = true;
                 Util.signalFatalError();
             },
         };