diff --git a/src/libudev/libudev-private.h b/src/libudev/libudev-private.h
index af0f125c739..ae975575dc7 100644
--- a/src/libudev/libudev-private.h
+++ b/src/libudev/libudev-private.h
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 #ifndef _LIBUDEV_PRIVATE_H_
 #define _LIBUDEV_PRIVATE_H_
 
-#include <syslog.h>
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <stdint.h>
 #include <stdbool.h>
diff --git a/src/test/test-libudev.c b/src/test/test-libudev.c
index 912b61396a3..ea190990ebf 100644
--- a/src/test/test-libudev.c
+++ b/src/test/test-libudev.c
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <getopt.h>
-#include <syslog.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <sys/epoll.h>
 
diff --git a/src/test/test-udev.c b/src/test/test-udev.c
index 26d6537ccf9..566a73a066f 100644
--- a/src/test/test-udev.c
+++ b/src/test/test-udev.c
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 #include <ctype.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
-#include <syslog.h>
 #include <grp.h>
 #include <sched.h>
 #include <sys/mount.h>
diff --git a/src/udev/accelerometer/accelerometer.c b/src/udev/accelerometer/accelerometer.c
index 32adf277777..4513bc63c20 100644
--- a/src/udev/accelerometer/accelerometer.c
+++ b/src/udev/accelerometer/accelerometer.c
@@ -69,19 +69,12 @@
 #define LONG(x) ((x)/BITS_PER_LONG)
 #define test_bit(bit, array)    ((array[LONG(bit)] >> OFF(bit)) & 1)
 
-static int debug = 0;
-
 _printf_(6,0)
 static void log_fn(struct udev *udev, int priority,
                    const char *file, int line, const char *fn,
                    const char *format, va_list args)
 {
-        if (debug) {
-                fprintf(stderr, "%s: ", fn);
-                vfprintf(stderr, format, args);
-        } else {
-                vsyslog(priority, format, args);
-        }
+        log_metav(priority, file, line, fn, format, args);
 }
 
 typedef enum {
@@ -233,11 +226,13 @@ int main (int argc, char** argv)
         struct udev_enumerate *enumerate;
         struct udev_list_entry *list_entry;
 
+        log_parse_environment();
+        log_open();
+
         udev = udev_new();
         if (udev == NULL)
                 return 1;
 
-        log_open();
         udev_set_log_fn(udev, log_fn);
 
         /* CLI argument parsing */
@@ -250,9 +245,10 @@ int main (int argc, char** argv)
 
                 switch (option) {
                 case 'd':
-                        debug = 1;
+                        log_set_target(LOG_TARGET_CONSOLE);
                         log_set_max_level(LOG_DEBUG);
                         udev_set_log_priority(udev, LOG_DEBUG);
+                        log_open();
                         break;
                 case 'h':
                         help();
diff --git a/src/udev/ata_id/ata_id.c b/src/udev/ata_id/ata_id.c
index f84281dd1a2..bfde57223ab 100644
--- a/src/udev/ata_id/ata_id.c
+++ b/src/udev/ata_id/ata_id.c
@@ -410,7 +410,7 @@ static void log_fn(struct udev *udev, int priority,
                    const char *file, int line, const char *fn,
                    const char *format, va_list args)
 {
-        vsyslog(priority, format, args);
+        log_metav(priority, file, line, fn, format, args);
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[])
@@ -435,11 +435,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                 {}
         };
 
+        log_parse_environment();
+        log_open();
+
         udev = udev_new();
         if (udev == NULL)
                 goto exit;
 
-        log_open();
         udev_set_log_fn(udev, log_fn);
 
         while (1) {
diff --git a/src/udev/cdrom_id/cdrom_id.c b/src/udev/cdrom_id/cdrom_id.c
index 33b2bc33317..c93a7bf8d13 100644
--- a/src/udev/cdrom_id/cdrom_id.c
+++ b/src/udev/cdrom_id/cdrom_id.c
@@ -37,19 +37,12 @@
 #include "libudev.h"
 #include "libudev-private.h"
 
-static bool debug;
-
 _printf_(6,0)
 static void log_fn(struct udev *udev, int priority,
                    const char *file, int line, const char *fn,
                    const char *format, va_list args)
 {
-        if (debug) {
-                fprintf(stderr, "%s: ", fn);
-                vfprintf(stderr, format, args);
-        } else {
-                vsyslog(priority, format, args);
-        }
+        log_metav(priority, file, line, fn, format, args);
 }
 
 /* device info */
@@ -875,11 +868,13 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
         int cnt;
         int rc = 0;
 
+        log_parse_environment();
+        log_open();
+
         udev = udev_new();
         if (udev == NULL)
                 goto exit;
 
-        log_open();
         udev_set_log_fn(udev, log_fn);
 
         while (1) {
@@ -900,9 +895,10 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
                         eject = true;
                         break;
                 case 'd':
-                        debug = true;
+                        log_set_target(LOG_TARGET_CONSOLE);
                         log_set_max_level(LOG_DEBUG);
                         udev_set_log_priority(udev, LOG_DEBUG);
+                        log_open();
                         break;
                 case 'h':
                         printf("Usage: cdrom_id [options] <device>\n"
diff --git a/src/udev/scsi_id/scsi_id.c b/src/udev/scsi_id/scsi_id.c
index 5511df88255..4d9378a5c0a 100644
--- a/src/udev/scsi_id/scsi_id.c
+++ b/src/udev/scsi_id/scsi_id.c
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <string.h>
-#include <syslog.h>
 #include <ctype.h>
 #include <getopt.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
@@ -55,7 +54,6 @@ static bool dev_specified = false;
 static char config_file[MAX_PATH_LEN] = "/etc/scsi_id.config";
 static enum page_code default_page_code = PAGE_UNSPECIFIED;
 static int sg_version = 4;
-static int debug = 0;
 static bool reformat_serial = false;
 static bool export = false;
 static char vendor_str[64];
@@ -70,7 +68,7 @@ static void log_fn(struct udev *udev, int priority,
                    const char *file, int line, const char *fn,
                    const char *format, va_list args)
 {
-        vsyslog(priority, format, args);
+        log_metav(priority, file, line, fn, format, args);
 }
 
 static void set_type(const char *from, char *to, size_t len)
@@ -390,7 +388,10 @@ static int set_options(struct udev *udev,
                         break;
 
                 case 'v':
-                        debug++;
+                        log_set_target(LOG_TARGET_CONSOLE);
+                        log_set_max_level(LOG_DEBUG);
+                        udev_set_log_priority(udev, LOG_DEBUG);
+                        log_open();
                         break;
 
                 case 'V':
@@ -583,11 +584,13 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
         int newargc;
         char **newargv = NULL;
 
+        log_parse_environment();
+        log_open();
+
         udev = udev_new();
         if (udev == NULL)
                 goto exit;
 
-        log_open();
         udev_set_log_fn(udev, log_fn);
 
         /*
diff --git a/src/udev/scsi_id/scsi_serial.c b/src/udev/scsi_id/scsi_serial.c
index 378a73d8639..b3d20a3c2db 100644
--- a/src/udev/scsi_id/scsi_serial.c
+++ b/src/udev/scsi_id/scsi_serial.c
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
-#include <syslog.h>
 #include <time.h>
 #include <inttypes.h>
 #include <scsi/scsi.h>
diff --git a/src/udev/udevadm-settle.c b/src/udev/udevadm-settle.c
index fae8b4c6b30..ddcf1ddf9ae 100644
--- a/src/udev/udevadm-settle.c
+++ b/src/udev/udevadm-settle.c
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
-#include <syslog.h>
 #include <getopt.h>
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <time.h>
diff --git a/src/udev/udevadm-test-builtin.c b/src/udev/udevadm-test-builtin.c
index 179f2696937..a300e1e9d7c 100644
--- a/src/udev/udevadm-test-builtin.c
+++ b/src/udev/udevadm-test-builtin.c
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
-#include <syslog.h>
 #include <getopt.h>
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <time.h>
diff --git a/src/udev/udevadm-test.c b/src/udev/udevadm-test.c
index 0f6cccffb56..84860498142 100644
--- a/src/udev/udevadm-test.c
+++ b/src/udev/udevadm-test.c
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@
 #include <ctype.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <signal.h>
-#include <syslog.h>
 #include <getopt.h>
 #include <sys/signalfd.h>
 
diff --git a/src/udev/udevadm-trigger.c b/src/udev/udevadm-trigger.c
index 668791b7a05..a52d1b5ad50 100644
--- a/src/udev/udevadm-trigger.c
+++ b/src/udev/udevadm-trigger.c
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@
 #include <errno.h>
 #include <dirent.h>
 #include <fcntl.h>
-#include <syslog.h>
 #include <fnmatch.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <sys/types.h>