diff --git a/include/trace-cmd/trace-cmd.h b/include/trace-cmd/trace-cmd.h
index 2f524b6..5cfb028 100644
--- a/include/trace-cmd/trace-cmd.h
+++ b/include/trace-cmd/trace-cmd.h
@@ -388,6 +388,10 @@ struct hook_list {
 struct hook_list *tracecmd_create_event_hook(const char *arg);
 void tracecmd_free_hooks(struct hook_list *hooks);
 
+void plog(const char *fmt, ...);
+void plog_error(const char *fmt, ...);
+int trace_set_log_file(char *logfile);
+
 /* --- Hack! --- */
 int tracecmd_blk_hack(struct tracecmd_input *handle);
 
diff --git a/include/trace-cmd/trace-msg.h b/include/trace-cmd/trace-msg.h
index b7fe10b..aab8a69 100644
--- a/include/trace-cmd/trace-msg.h
+++ b/include/trace-cmd/trace-msg.h
@@ -12,7 +12,4 @@
 
 extern unsigned int page_size;
 
-void plog(const char *fmt, ...);
-void pdie(const char *fmt, ...);
-
 #endif /* _TRACE_MSG_H_ */
diff --git a/lib/trace-cmd/trace-util.c b/lib/trace-cmd/trace-util.c
index b5ce84f..8c1a0a0 100644
--- a/lib/trace-cmd/trace-util.c
+++ b/lib/trace-cmd/trace-util.c
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@ int tracecmd_disable_plugins;
 static int tracecmd_quiet;
 static bool tracecmd_debug;
 
+static FILE *trace_logfp;
+
 static struct registered_plugin_options {
 	struct registered_plugin_options	*next;
 	struct tep_plugin_option			*options;
@@ -1716,3 +1718,72 @@ void __weak *malloc_or_die(unsigned int size)
 		die("malloc");
 	return data;
 }
+
+#define LOG_BUF_SIZE 1024
+static void __plog(const char *prefix, const char *fmt, va_list ap, FILE *fp)
+{
+	static int newline = 1;
+	char buf[LOG_BUF_SIZE];
+	int r;
+
+	r = vsnprintf(buf, LOG_BUF_SIZE, fmt, ap);
+
+	if (r > LOG_BUF_SIZE)
+		r = LOG_BUF_SIZE;
+
+	if (trace_logfp) {
+		if (newline)
+			fprintf(trace_logfp, "[%d]%s%.*s", getpid(), prefix, r, buf);
+		else
+			fprintf(trace_logfp, "[%d]%s%.*s", getpid(), prefix, r, buf);
+		newline = buf[r - 1] == '\n';
+		fflush(trace_logfp);
+		return;
+	}
+
+	fprintf(fp, "%.*s", r, buf);
+}
+
+void plog(const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, fmt);
+	__plog("", fmt, ap, stdout);
+	va_end(ap);
+	/* Make sure it gets to the screen, in case we crash afterward */
+	fflush(stdout);
+}
+
+void plog_error(const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+	va_list ap;
+	char *str = "";
+
+	va_start(ap, fmt);
+	__plog("Error: ", fmt, ap, stderr);
+	va_end(ap);
+	if (errno)
+		str = strerror(errno);
+	if (trace_logfp)
+		fprintf(trace_logfp, "\n%s\n", str);
+	else
+		fprintf(stderr, "\n%s\n", str);
+}
+
+/**
+ * trace_set_log_file - Set file for logging
+ * @logfile: Name of the log file
+ *
+ * Returns 0 on successful completion or -1 in case of error
+ */
+int trace_set_log_file(char *logfile)
+{
+	if (trace_logfp)
+		fclose(trace_logfp);
+	trace_logfp = fopen(logfile, "w");
+	if (!trace_logfp)
+		return -1;
+	return 0;
+}
+
diff --git a/tracecmd/trace-listen.c b/tracecmd/trace-listen.c
index 9dcb833..7c7d4ce 100644
--- a/tracecmd/trace-listen.c
+++ b/tracecmd/trace-listen.c
@@ -34,8 +34,6 @@ static char *output_dir;
 static char *default_output_file = "trace";
 static char *output_file;
 
-static FILE *logfp;
-
 static int backlog = 5;
 
 static int do_daemon;
@@ -44,6 +42,13 @@ static int do_daemon;
 static struct tracecmd_msg_handle *stop_msg_handle;
 static bool done;
 
+#define pdie(fmt, ...)				\
+	do {					\
+		plog_error(fmt, ##__VA_ARGS__);	\
+		remove_pid_file();		\
+		exit(-1);			\
+	} while (0)
+
 #define  TEMP_FILE_STR "%s.%s:%s.cpu%d", output_file, host, port, cpu
 static char *get_temp_file(const char *host, const char *port, int cpu)
 {
@@ -114,43 +119,6 @@ static void finish(int sig)
 	done = true;
 }
 
-#define LOG_BUF_SIZE 1024
-static void __plog(const char *prefix, const char *fmt, va_list ap,
-		   FILE *fp)
-{
-	static int newline = 1;
-	char buf[LOG_BUF_SIZE];
-	int r;
-
-	r = vsnprintf(buf, LOG_BUF_SIZE, fmt, ap);
-
-	if (r > LOG_BUF_SIZE)
-		r = LOG_BUF_SIZE;
-
-	if (logfp) {
-		if (newline)
-			fprintf(logfp, "[%d]%s%.*s", getpid(), prefix, r, buf);
-		else
-			fprintf(logfp, "[%d]%s%.*s", getpid(), prefix, r, buf);
-		newline = buf[r - 1] == '\n';
-		fflush(logfp);
-		return;
-	}
-
-	fprintf(fp, "%.*s", r, buf);
-}
-
-void plog(const char *fmt, ...)
-{
-	va_list ap;
-
-	va_start(ap, fmt);
-	__plog("", fmt, ap, stdout);
-	va_end(ap);
-	/* Make sure it gets to the screen, in case we crash afterward */
-	fflush(stdout);
-}
-
 static void make_pid_name(int mode, char *buf)
 {
 	snprintf(buf, PATH_MAX, VAR_RUN_DIR "/trace-cmd-net.pid");
@@ -169,26 +137,6 @@ static void remove_pid_file(void)
 	unlink(buf);
 }
 
-void pdie(const char *fmt, ...)
-{
-	va_list ap;
-	char *str = "";
-
-	va_start(ap, fmt);
-	__plog("Error: ", fmt, ap, stderr);
-	va_end(ap);
-	if (errno)
-		str = strerror(errno);
-	if (logfp)
-		fprintf(logfp, "\n%s\n", str);
-	else
-		fprintf(stderr, "\n%s\n", str);
-
-	remove_pid_file();
-
-	exit(-1);
-}
-
 static int process_udp_child(int sfd, const char *host, const char *port,
 			     int cpu, int page_size, int use_tcp)
 {
@@ -1030,8 +978,7 @@ void trace_listen(int argc, char **argv)
 
 	if (logfile) {
 		/* set the writes to a logfile instead */
-		logfp = fopen(logfile, "w");
-		if (!logfp)
+		if (trace_set_log_file(logfile) < 0)
 			die("creating log file %s", logfile);
 	}
 
