diff --git a/src/log.c b/src/log.c
index 39c1d0442..1405ba301 100644
--- a/src/log.c
+++ b/src/log.c
@@ -42,7 +42,11 @@ static const char *err_filename;
 /* redirect stdin to /dev/null to work around a libao bug */
 static void redirect_stdin(void)
 {
-	int fd;
+	int fd, st;
+	struct stat ss;
+
+	if ((st = fstat(STDIN_FILENO, &ss)) < 0 || ! isatty(STDIN_FILENO))
+		return;
 	if ((fd = open("/dev/null", O_RDONLY)) < 0)
 		FATAL("failed to open /dev/null %s\n", strerror(errno));
 	if (dup2(fd, STDIN_FILENO) < 0)