diff --git a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/LoggingApplicationListener.java b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/LoggingApplicationListener.java
index d7806c0649..c47bef4c57 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/LoggingApplicationListener.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/LoggingApplicationListener.java
@@ -185,19 +185,20 @@ public class LoggingApplicationListener implements SmartApplicationListener {
 				system.initialize(value);
 			}
 			catch (Exception ex) {
-				this.logger.warn("Logging environment value '" + value
-						+ "' cannot be opened and will be ignored");
+				this.logger
+						.warn("Logging environment value '"
+								+ value
+								+ "' cannot be opened and will be ignored (using default location instead)");
+				system.initialize();
 			}
 		}
 		else {
-
 			system.initialize();
-			if (this.springBootLogging != null) {
-				initializeLogLevel(system, this.springBootLogging);
-			}
-
 		}
 
+		if (this.springBootLogging != null) {
+			initializeLogLevel(system, this.springBootLogging);
+		}
 		setLogLevels(system, environment);
 
 	}
diff --git a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/LoggingApplicationListenerTests.java b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/LoggingApplicationListenerTests.java
index 88b6c49431..3735f18d13 100644
--- a/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/LoggingApplicationListenerTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/logging/LoggingApplicationListenerTests.java
@@ -126,6 +126,11 @@ public class LoggingApplicationListenerTests {
 		this.initializer.initialize(this.context.getEnvironment(),
 				this.context.getClassLoader());
 		// Should not throw
+		this.logger.info("Hello world");
+		String output = this.outputCapture.toString().trim();
+		assertTrue("Wrong output:\n" + output, output.contains("Hello world"));
+		assertFalse("Wrong output:\n" + output, output.contains("???"));
+		assertTrue(new File(tmpDir() + "/spring.log").exists());
 	}
 
 	@Test