diff --git a/libcontainer/logs/logs.go b/libcontainer/logs/logs.go
index 3a45f1a5f..f75084161 100644
--- a/libcontainer/logs/logs.go
+++ b/libcontainer/logs/logs.go
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"sync"
 
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 )
 
@@ -64,8 +65,7 @@ func ConfigureLogging(config Config) error {
 	defer configureMutex.Unlock()
 
 	if loggingConfigured {
-		logrus.Debug("logging has already been configured")
-		return nil
+		return errors.New("logging has already been configured")
 	}
 
 	logrus.SetLevel(config.LogLevel)
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 5efecb9a7..97bce5bf5 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -150,6 +150,10 @@ func main() {
 		if err := reviseRootDir(context); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
+		// let init configure logging on its own
+		if args := context.Args(); args != nil && args.First() == "init" {
+			return nil
+		}
 		return logs.ConfigureLogging(createLogConfig(context))
 	}