diff --git a/lib/plugins/output/gelfout.js b/lib/plugins/output/gelfout.js
index d32a823e..4be81f1f 100644
--- a/lib/plugins/output/gelfout.js
+++ b/lib/plugins/output/gelfout.js
@@ -8,15 +8,20 @@ function OutputGELF (config, eventEmitter) {
   this.compression = config.compression || 'deflate'
   this.chunkSize = config.chunkSize || 1024
   this.eventEmitter = eventEmitter
+  this.log = graygelf({
+    host: this.config.host,
+    port: this.config.port,
+    compressType: this.compression,
+    chunkSize: this.chunkSize
+  })
 }
 
 OutputGELF.prototype.eventHandler = function (data, context) {
   if (this.config.debug) {
     console.log('context ' + JSON.stringify(context))
   }
-  var log = graygelf({host: this.config.host, port: this.config.port, compressType: this.compression, chunkSize: this.chunkSize})
   var rawMessage = this.mapData(data, context)
-  log.raw(rawMessage)
+  this.log.raw(rawMessage)
 }
 
 OutputGELF.prototype.mapData = function (data, context) {