diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index e6599e05e..f3ea930d7 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 ver 0.23.10 (not yet released)
+* Windows
+  - log to stdout by default, don't require "log_file" setting
 
 ver 0.23.9 (2022/08/18)
 * input
diff --git a/src/LogInit.cxx b/src/LogInit.cxx
index 7aeb069d3..97bf092c8 100644
--- a/src/LogInit.cxx
+++ b/src/LogInit.cxx
@@ -163,7 +163,10 @@ log_init(const ConfigData &config, bool verbose, bool use_stdout)
 				return;
 			}
 #endif
-#ifndef HAVE_SYSLOG
+#ifdef _WIN32
+			/* default to stdout on Windows */
+			out_fd = STDOUT_FILENO;
+#elif !defined(HAVE_SYSLOG)
 			throw std::runtime_error("config parameter 'log_file' not found");
 #endif
 #ifdef HAVE_SYSLOG