diff --git a/pdns/logger.cc b/pdns/logger.cc
index 1766d35ae9a7..994ef4251471 100644
--- a/pdns/logger.cc
+++ b/pdns/logger.cc
@@ -31,19 +31,34 @@ extern StatBag S;
 #include "lock.hh"
 #include "namespaces.hh"
 
-pthread_once_t Logger::s_once;
-pthread_key_t Logger::g_loggerKey;
-
 Logger g_log("", LOG_DAEMON);
+thread_local Logger::PerThread Logger::t_perThread;
+
+static Logger::Config& getLoggerConfig()
+{
+  /* Since the Logger can be called very early, we need to make sure
+     that the relevant parts are initialized no matter what, which is tricky
+     because we can't easily control the initialization order, especially with
+     built-in backends.
+     t_perThread is thread_local, so it will be initialized when first accessed,
+     but we need to make sure that the rest of the config is too, and making
+     it a function-level static variable achieves that, because it will be
+     initialized the first time we enter this function at the very last.
+  */
+  static Logger::Config config;
+  return config;
+}
 
 void Logger::log(const string &msg, Urgency u)
 {
 #ifndef RECURSOR
   bool mustAccount(false);
 #endif
-  if(u<=consoleUrgency) {
+  const auto& config = getLoggerConfig();
+
+  if(u <= config.consoleUrgency) {
     char buffer[50] = "";
-    if (d_timestamps) {
+    if (config.d_timestamps) {
       struct tm tm;
       time_t t;
       time(&t);
@@ -52,7 +67,7 @@ void Logger::log(const string &msg, Urgency u)
     }
 
     string prefix;
-    if (d_prefixed) {
+    if (config.d_prefixed) {
       switch(u) {
         case All:
           prefix = "[all] ";
@@ -91,7 +106,7 @@ void Logger::log(const string &msg, Urgency u)
     mustAccount=true;
 #endif
   }
-  if( u <= d_loglevel && !d_disableSyslog ) {
+  if( u <= config.d_loglevel && !config.d_disableSyslog ) {
     syslog(u,"%s",msg.c_str());
 #ifndef RECURSOR
     mustAccount=true;
@@ -106,75 +121,101 @@ void Logger::log(const string &msg, Urgency u)
 
 void Logger::setLoglevel( Urgency u )
 {
-  d_loglevel = u;
+  auto& config = getLoggerConfig();
+  config.d_loglevel = u;
 }
   
+void Logger::setFacility(int f)
+{
+  auto& config = getLoggerConfig();
 
-void Logger::toConsole(Urgency u)
+  config.d_facility = f;
+  open();
+}
+
+void Logger::setFlag(int f)
 {
-  consoleUrgency=u;
+  auto& config = getLoggerConfig();
+  config. flags |= f;
+  open();
 }
 
-void Logger::open()
+void Logger::disableSyslog(bool d)
 {
-  if(opened)
-    closelog();
-  openlog(name.c_str(),flags,d_facility);
-  opened=true;
+  auto& config = getLoggerConfig();
+
+  config.d_disableSyslog = d;
 }
 
-void Logger::setName(const string &_name)
+void Logger::setTimestamps(bool t)
 {
-  name=_name;
-  open();
+  auto& config = getLoggerConfig();
+  config.d_timestamps = t;
 }
 
-void Logger::initKey()
+void Logger::setPrefixed(bool p)
 {
-  if(pthread_key_create(&g_loggerKey, perThreadDestructor))
-    unixDie("Creating thread key for logger");
+  auto& config = getLoggerConfig();
+  config.d_prefixed = p;
 }
 
-Logger::Logger(const string &n, int facility) :
-  name(n), flags(LOG_PID|LOG_NDELAY), d_facility(facility), d_loglevel(Logger::None),
-  consoleUrgency(Error), opened(false), d_disableSyslog(false)
+void Logger::resetFlags()
 {
-  if(pthread_once(&s_once, initKey))
-    unixDie("Creating thread key for logger");
+  auto& config = getLoggerConfig();
 
+  config.flags = 0;
   open();
+}
+
+void Logger::toConsole(Urgency u)
+{
+  auto& config = getLoggerConfig();
+  config.consoleUrgency = u;
+}
+
+void Logger::open()
+{
+  auto& config = getLoggerConfig();
+  if(config.opened) {
+    closelog();
+  }
 
+  openlog(config.name.c_str(), config.flags, config.d_facility);
+  config.opened = true;
 }
 
-Logger& Logger::operator<<(Urgency u)
+void Logger::setName(const string &_name)
 {
-  getPerThread()->d_urgency=u;
-  return *this;
+  auto& config = getLoggerConfig();
+  config.name = _name;
+  open();
 }
 
-void Logger::perThreadDestructor(void* buf)
+Logger::Logger(const string &n, int facility)
 {
-  PerThread* pt = (PerThread*) buf;
-  delete pt;
+  auto& config = getLoggerConfig();
+  config.name = n;
+  config.flags = LOG_PID|LOG_NDELAY;
+  config.d_facility = facility;
+
+  open();
 }
 
-Logger::PerThread* Logger::getPerThread()
+Logger& Logger::operator<<(Urgency u)
 {
-  void *buf=pthread_getspecific(g_loggerKey);
-  PerThread* ret;
-  if(buf)
-    ret = (PerThread*) buf;
-  else {
-    ret = new PerThread();
-    pthread_setspecific(g_loggerKey, (void*)ret);
-  }
-  return ret;
+  getPerThread().d_urgency = u;
+  return *this;
+}
+
+Logger::PerThread& Logger::getPerThread()
+{
+  return t_perThread;
 }
 
 Logger& Logger::operator<<(const string &s)
 {
-  PerThread* pt =getPerThread();
-  pt->d_output.append(s);
+  PerThread& pt = getPerThread();
+  pt.d_output.append(s);
   return *this;
 }
 
@@ -244,11 +285,11 @@ Logger& Logger::operator<<(long i)
 
 Logger& Logger::operator<<(ostream & (&)(ostream &))
 {
-  PerThread* pt =getPerThread();
+  PerThread& pt = getPerThread();
 
-  log(pt->d_output, pt->d_urgency);
-  pt->d_output.clear();
-  pt->d_urgency=Info;
+  log(pt.d_output, pt.d_urgency);
+  pt.d_output.clear();
+  pt.d_urgency=Info;
   return *this;
 }
 
diff --git a/pdns/logger.hh b/pdns/logger.hh
index 3fb97ee0fcf9..2a787d2afaaf 100644
--- a/pdns/logger.hh
+++ b/pdns/logger.hh
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 #include <iostream>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <syslog.h>
-#include <pthread.h>
 
 #include "namespaces.hh"
 #include "dnsname.hh"
@@ -42,36 +41,44 @@ public:
   enum Urgency {All=32767,Alert=LOG_ALERT, Critical=LOG_CRIT, Error=LOG_ERR, Warning=LOG_WARNING,
                 Notice=LOG_NOTICE,Info=LOG_INFO, Debug=LOG_DEBUG, None=-1};
 
+  struct Config
+  {
+    string name;
+    int flags;
+    int d_facility;
+    Urgency d_loglevel{None};
+    Urgency consoleUrgency{Error};
+    bool opened{false};
+    bool d_disableSyslog{false};
+    bool d_timestamps{true};
+    bool d_prefixed{false};
+  };
+
   /** Log a message.
       \param msg Message you wish to log
       \param u Urgency of the message you wish to log
   */
   void log(const string &msg, Urgency u=Notice);
 
-  void setFacility(int f){d_facility=f;open();} //!< Choose logging facility
-  void setFlag(int f){flags|=f;open();} //!< set a syslog flag
+  void setFacility(int f); //!< Choose logging facility
+  void setFlag(int f); //!< set a syslog flag
   void setName(const string &);
 
   //! set lower limit of urgency needed for console display. Messages of this urgency, and higher, will be displayed
   void toConsole(Urgency);
   void setLoglevel( Urgency );
 
-  void disableSyslog(bool d) {
-    d_disableSyslog = d;
-  }
+  void disableSyslog(bool d);
 
-  void setTimestamps(bool t) {
-    d_timestamps = t;
-  }
+  void setTimestamps(bool t);
 
-  void setPrefixed(bool p) {
-    d_prefixed = p;
-  }
+  void setPrefixed(bool p);
 
   //! Log to a file.
   void toFile( const string & filename );
   
-  void resetFlags(){flags=0;open();} //!< zero the flags
+  void resetFlags(); //!< zero the flags
+
   /** Use this to stream to your log, like this:
       \code
       g_log<<"This is an informational message"<<endl; // logged at default loglevel (Info)
@@ -101,22 +108,10 @@ private:
     string d_output;
     Urgency d_urgency;
   };
-  static void initKey();
-  static void perThreadDestructor(void *);
-  PerThread* getPerThread();
+  PerThread& getPerThread();
   void open();
 
-  string name;
-  int flags;
-  int d_facility;
-  Urgency d_loglevel;
-  Urgency consoleUrgency;
-  bool opened;
-  bool d_disableSyslog;
-  bool d_timestamps{true};
-  bool d_prefixed{false};
-  static pthread_once_t s_once;
-  static pthread_key_t g_loggerKey;
+  static thread_local PerThread t_perThread;
 };
 
 extern Logger g_log;