diff --git a/lib/libc/gen/syslog.c b/lib/libc/gen/syslog.c
--- a/lib/libc/gen/syslog.c
+++ b/lib/libc/gen/syslog.c
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <paths.h>
 #include <pthread.h>
+#include <stdbool.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
@@ -61,7 +62,7 @@
 #define	MAXLINE		8192
 
 static int	LogFile = -1;		/* fd for log */
-static int	status;			/* connection status */
+static bool	connected;		/* have done connect */
 static int	opened;			/* have done openlog() */
 static int	LogStat = 0;		/* status bits, set by openlog() */
 static const char *LogTag = NULL;	/* string to tag the entry with */
@@ -85,12 +86,6 @@
 static void	connectlog(void);	/* (re)connect to syslogd */
 static void	openlog_unlocked(const char *, int, int);
 
-enum {
-	NOCONN = 0,
-	CONNDEF,
-	CONNPRIV,
-};
-
 /*
  * Format of the magic cookie passed through the stdio hook
  */
@@ -291,48 +286,19 @@
 	connectlog();
 
 	/*
-	 * If the send() fails, there are two likely scenarios: 
-	 *  1) syslogd was restarted
-	 *  2) /var/run/log is out of socket buffer space, which
-	 *     in most cases means local DoS.
-	 * If the error does not indicate a full buffer, we address
-	 * case #1 by attempting to reconnect to /var/run/log[priv]
-	 * and resending the message once.
-	 *
-	 * If we are working with a privileged socket, the retry
-	 * attempts end there, because we don't want to freeze a
-	 * critical application like su(1) or sshd(8).
-	 *
-	 * Otherwise, we address case #2 by repeatedly retrying the
-	 * send() to give syslogd a chance to empty its socket buffer.
+	 * If the send() failed, there are two likely scenarios:
+	 * 1) syslogd was restarted.  In this case make one (only) attempt
+	 *    to reconnect.
+	 * 2) We filled our buffer due to syslogd not being able to read
+	 *    as fast as we write.  In this case prefer to lose the current
+	 *    message rather than whole buffer of previously logged data.
 	 */
-
 	if (send(LogFile, tbuf, cnt, 0) < 0) {
 		if (errno != ENOBUFS) {
-			/*
-			 * Scenario 1: syslogd was restarted
-			 * reconnect and resend once
-			 */
 			disconnectlog();
 			connectlog();
 			if (send(LogFile, tbuf, cnt, 0) >= 0)
 				return;
-			/*
-			 * if the resend failed, fall through to
-			 * possible scenario 2
-			 */
-		}
-		while (errno == ENOBUFS) {
-			/*
-			 * Scenario 2: out of socket buffer space
-			 * possible DoS, fail fast on a privileged
-			 * socket
-			 */
-			if (status == CONNPRIV)
-				break;
-			_usleep(1);
-			if (send(LogFile, tbuf, cnt, 0) >= 0)
-				return;
 		}
 	} else
 		return;
@@ -389,7 +355,7 @@
 		_close(LogFile);
 		LogFile = -1;
 	}
-	status = NOCONN;			/* retry connect */
+	connected = false;			/* retry connect */
 }
 
 /* Should be called with mutex acquired */
@@ -413,29 +379,16 @@
 			}
 		}
 	}
-	if (LogFile != -1 && status == NOCONN) {
+	if (!connected) {
 		SyslogAddr.sun_len = sizeof(SyslogAddr);
 		SyslogAddr.sun_family = AF_UNIX;
 
-		/*
-		 * First try privileged socket. If no success,
-		 * then try default socket.
-		 */
-		(void)strncpy(SyslogAddr.sun_path, _PATH_LOG_PRIV,
+		(void)strncpy(SyslogAddr.sun_path, _PATH_LOG,
 		    sizeof SyslogAddr.sun_path);
 		if (_connect(LogFile, (struct sockaddr *)&SyslogAddr,
 		    sizeof(SyslogAddr)) != -1)
-			status = CONNPRIV;
-
-		if (status == NOCONN) {
-			(void)strncpy(SyslogAddr.sun_path, _PATH_LOG,
-			    sizeof SyslogAddr.sun_path);
-			if (_connect(LogFile, (struct sockaddr *)&SyslogAddr,
-			    sizeof(SyslogAddr)) != -1)
-				status = CONNDEF;
-		}
-
-		if (status == NOCONN) {
+			connected = true;
+		else {
 			(void)_close(LogFile);
 			LogFile = -1;
 		}
@@ -477,7 +430,7 @@
 		LogFile = -1;
 	}
 	LogTag = NULL;
-	status = NOCONN;
+	connected = false;
 	THREAD_UNLOCK();
 }