diff --git a/frontends/amiga/gui.c b/frontends/amiga/gui.c
index e4acf70c2..fbaa2acfb 100644
--- a/frontends/amiga/gui.c
+++ b/frontends/amiga/gui.c
@@ -5841,6 +5841,9 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 	free(current_user_dir);
 	FreeVec(current_user_faviconcache);
 
+	/* finalise logging */
+	nslog_finalise();
+
 #ifndef __amigaos4__
 	/* OS3 low memory handler */
 	ami_memory_fini(memhandler);
diff --git a/frontends/atari/gui.c b/frontends/atari/gui.c
index a400285d3..6ee63b301 100644
--- a/frontends/atari/gui.c
+++ b/frontends/atari/gui.c
@@ -1225,6 +1225,10 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
     fclose(stderr);
 #endif
     NSLOG(netsurf, INFO, "exit_gem");
+
+    /* finalise logging */
+    nslog_finalise();
+
     exit_gem();
 
     return 0;
diff --git a/frontends/beos/gui.cpp b/frontends/beos/gui.cpp
index 69a0d6dde..19f8eac49 100644
--- a/frontends/beos/gui.cpp
+++ b/frontends/beos/gui.cpp
@@ -1066,6 +1066,12 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 
 	netsurf_exit();
 
+	/* finalise options */
+	nsoption_finalise(nsoptions, nsoptions_default);
+
+	/* finalise logging */
+	nslog_finalise();
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/frontends/framebuffer/gui.c b/frontends/framebuffer/gui.c
index ebd0b7b66..e252f25f3 100644
--- a/frontends/framebuffer/gui.c
+++ b/frontends/framebuffer/gui.c
@@ -2215,6 +2215,9 @@ main(int argc, char** argv)
 	/* finalise options */
 	nsoption_finalise(nsoptions, nsoptions_default);
 
+	/* finalise logging */
+	nslog_finalise();
+
 	return 0;
 }
 
diff --git a/frontends/gtk/gui.c b/frontends/gtk/gui.c
index 6a61b3d06..8c9ad088d 100644
--- a/frontends/gtk/gui.c
+++ b/frontends/gtk/gui.c
@@ -1198,5 +1198,8 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 	/* finalise options */
 	nsoption_finalise(nsoptions, nsoptions_default);
 
+	/* finalise logging */
+	nslog_finalise();
+
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/frontends/monkey/main.c b/frontends/monkey/main.c
index d697f271f..53cde5a72 100644
--- a/frontends/monkey/main.c
+++ b/frontends/monkey/main.c
@@ -404,5 +404,8 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
 	/* finalise options */
 	nsoption_finalise(nsoptions, nsoptions_default);
 
+	/* finalise logging */
+	nslog_finalise();
+
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/frontends/riscos/gui.c b/frontends/riscos/gui.c
index 9d651bc10..cfc513f72 100644
--- a/frontends/riscos/gui.c
+++ b/frontends/riscos/gui.c
@@ -2557,5 +2557,8 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv)
 	netsurf_exit();
 	nsoption_finalise(nsoptions, nsoptions_default);
 
+	/* finalise logging */
+	nslog_finalise();
+
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/frontends/windows/main.c b/frontends/windows/main.c
index 98e90be80..a3a7c2b39 100644
--- a/frontends/windows/main.c
+++ b/frontends/windows/main.c
@@ -419,5 +419,8 @@ WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hLastInstance, LPSTR lpcli, int ncmd)
 	/* finalise options */
 	nsoption_finalise(nsoptions, nsoptions_default);
 
+	/* finalise logging */
+	nslog_finalise();
+
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/utils/log.c b/utils/log.c
index 68a470aa9..e267b3179 100644
--- a/utils/log.c
+++ b/utils/log.c
@@ -137,8 +137,8 @@ nslog_set_filter(const char *filter)
 	}
 
 	err = nslog_filter_set_active(filt, NULL);
+	filt = nslog_filter_unref(filt);
 	if (err != NSLOG_NO_ERROR) {
-		nslog_filter_unref(filt);
 		return NSERROR_NOSPACE;
 	}
 
@@ -287,3 +287,19 @@ nslog_set_filter_by_options()
 	else
 		return nslog_set_filter(nsoption_charp(log_filter));
 }
+
+/* exported interface documented in utils/log.h */
+void
+nslog_finalise()
+{
+	NSLOG(netsurf, INFO,
+	      "Finalising logging, please report any further messages");
+	verbose_log = true;
+	if (logfile != stderr) {
+		fclose(logfile);
+		logfile = stderr;
+	}
+#ifdef WITH_NSLOG
+	nslog_cleanup();
+#endif
+}
diff --git a/utils/log.h b/utils/log.h
index a94afc130..b773ec4a2 100644
--- a/utils/log.h
+++ b/utils/log.h
@@ -43,6 +43,15 @@ typedef bool(nslog_ensure_t)(FILE *fptr);
  */
 extern nserror nslog_init(nslog_ensure_t *ensure, int *pargc, char **argv);
 
+/**
+ * Shut down the logging system.
+ *
+ * Shuts down the logging subsystem, resetting to verbose logging and output
+ * to stderr.  Note, if logging is done after calling this, it will be sent
+ * to stderr without filtering.
+ */
+extern void nslog_finalise(void);
+
 /**
  * Set the logging filter.
  *