diff --git a/src/fs.h b/src/fs.h
--- a/src/fs.h
+++ b/src/fs.h
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
 /** Bridge operations to C stdio */
 namespace fsbridge {
 FILE *fopen(const fs::path &p, const char *mode);
-FILE *freopen(const fs::path &p, const char *mode, FILE *stream);
 }; // namespace fsbridge
 
 #endif // BITCOIN_FS_H
diff --git a/src/fs.cpp b/src/fs.cpp
--- a/src/fs.cpp
+++ b/src/fs.cpp
@@ -11,8 +11,5 @@
     return ::fopen(p.string().c_str(), mode);
 }
 
-FILE *freopen(const fs::path &p, const char *mode, FILE *stream) {
-    return ::freopen(p.string().c_str(), mode, stream);
-}
 
 } // namespace fsbridge
diff --git a/src/logging.cpp b/src/logging.cpp
--- a/src/logging.cpp
+++ b/src/logging.cpp
@@ -182,14 +182,14 @@
             if (m_reopen_file) {
                 m_reopen_file = false;
                 fs::path pathDebug = GetDebugLogPath();
-                m_fileout = fsbridge::freopen(pathDebug, "a", m_fileout);
-                if (!m_fileout) {
-                    return;
+                FILE *new_fileout = fsbridge::fopen(pathDebug, "a");
+                if (new_fileout) {
+                    // unbuffered.
+                    setbuf(m_fileout, nullptr);
+                    fclose(m_fileout);
+                    m_fileout = new_fileout;
                 }
-                // unbuffered.
-                setbuf(m_fileout, nullptr);
             }
-
             FileWriteStr(strTimestamped, m_fileout);
         }
     }