diff --git a/timeoutd.c b/timeoutd.c
index 310c6f0..632a73a 100644
--- a/timeoutd.c
+++ b/timeoutd.c
@@ -869,8 +869,7 @@ void check_idle()
     sprintf(path, "/dev/%s", dev);
     if (stat(path, pstat) && chk_xsession(dev, host) != TIMEOUTD_XSESSION_LOCAL) {      /* if can't get status for
                                                                                            port && if it's not a local Xsession */
-        sprintf(errmsg, "Can't get status of user %s's terminal (%s)\n", user, dev);
-        /* bailout(errmsg, 1); MOH: is there a reason to exit here? */
+        syslog(LOG_ERR, "Can't get status of user %s's terminal (%s)\n", user, dev);
         return;
     }
     /* idle time is the lesser of: