diff --git a/src/engine/TransLog.c b/src/engine/TransLog.c
index e5ea1ef78b..65afb1ae56 100644
--- a/src/engine/TransLog.c
+++ b/src/engine/TransLog.c
@@ -95,6 +95,8 @@ xaccTransWriteLog (Transaction *trans)
    Split *split;
    int i = 0;
 
+   xaccOpenLog ();
+
    /* use tab-separated fields, to be /rdb compatible */
    fprintf (trans_log, "%s	%s\n", trans->num, trans->description);