diff --git a/usr.sbin/syslogd/syslogd.c b/usr.sbin/syslogd/syslogd.c
--- a/usr.sbin/syslogd/syslogd.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/syslogd/syslogd.c
@@ -156,7 +156,6 @@
 
 static const char *ConfFile = _PATH_LOGCONF;
 static const char *PidFile = _PATH_LOGPID;
-static const char ctty[] = _PATH_CONSOLE;
 static const char include_str[] = "include";
 static const char include_ext[] = ".conf";
 
@@ -761,6 +760,18 @@
 	if (Sflag == 0)
 		addsock(_PATH_LOG_PRIV, NULL, S_IRUSR | S_IWUSR);
 
+	consfile.f_type = F_CONSOLE;
+	/*
+	 * Open in non-blocking mode to avoid hangs during open
+	 * and close (waiting for the port to drain).
+	 */
+	consfile.f_file = open(_PATH_CONSOLE, O_WRONLY | O_NONBLOCK);
+	if (consfile.f_file < 0)
+		err(1, "cannot open %s", _PATH_CONSOLE);
+	(void)strlcpy(consfile.fu_fname, _PATH_CONSOLE + sizeof(_PATH_DEV) - 1,
+	    sizeof(consfile.fu_fname));
+	(void)strlcpy(bootfile, getbootfile(), sizeof(bootfile));
+
 	pfh = pidfile_open(PidFile, 0600, &spid);
 	if (pfh == NULL) {
 		if (errno == EEXIST)
@@ -778,11 +789,6 @@
 	} else if (Debug)
 		setlinebuf(stdout);
 
-	consfile.f_type = F_CONSOLE;
-	(void)strlcpy(consfile.fu_fname, ctty + sizeof(_PATH_DEV) - 1,
-	    sizeof(consfile.fu_fname));
-	(void)strlcpy(bootfile, getbootfile(), sizeof(bootfile));
-
 	kq = kqueue();
 	if (kq == -1) {
 		warn("failed to initialize kqueue");
@@ -1622,20 +1628,9 @@
 
 	/* log the message to the particular outputs */
 	if (!Initialized) {
-		f = &consfile;
-		/*
-		 * Open in non-blocking mode to avoid hangs during open
-		 * and close(waiting for the port to drain).
-		 */
-		f->f_file = open(ctty, O_WRONLY | O_NONBLOCK, 0);
-
-		if (f->f_file >= 0) {
-			f->f_lasttime = *timestamp;
-			fprintlog_first(f, hostname, app_name, procid, msgid,
-			    structured_data, msg, flags);
-			close(f->f_file);
-			f->f_file = -1;
-		}
+		consfile.f_lasttime = *timestamp;
+		fprintlog_first(&consfile, hostname, app_name, procid,
+		    msgid, structured_data, msg, flags);
 		return;
 	}
 
@@ -3019,7 +3014,7 @@
 		if (syncfile)
 			f->f_flags |= FFLAG_SYNC;
 		if (isatty(f->f_file)) {
-			if (strcmp(p, ctty) == 0)
+			if (strcmp(p, _PATH_CONSOLE) == 0)
 				f->f_type = F_CONSOLE;
 			else
 				f->f_type = F_TTY;