diff --git a/src/server/BreCal/__init__.py b/src/server/BreCal/__init__.py
index 93dabcc..2831024 100644
--- a/src/server/BreCal/__init__.py
+++ b/src/server/BreCal/__init__.py
@@ -77,9 +77,18 @@ def create_app(test_config=None, instance_path=None):
     if app.config.get("LOG_TO_STDERR"):
         log_kwargs["stream"] = sys.stderr
     else:
-        log_kwargs["filename"] = app.config.get("LOG_FILE", "brecaltest.log")
+        log_file = app.config.get("LOG_FILE", "brecaltest.log")
+        if not os.path.isabs(log_file):
+            log_file = os.path.join(app.instance_path, log_file)
+        log_dir = os.path.dirname(log_file)
+        if log_dir and not os.path.exists(log_dir):
+            os.makedirs(log_dir, exist_ok=True)
+        log_kwargs["filename"] = log_file
     # Force handler setup so WSGI doesn't keep the default stderr handler.
-    logging.basicConfig(level=log_level, force=True, **log_kwargs)
+    try:
+        logging.basicConfig(level=log_level, force=True, **log_kwargs)
+    except Exception:
+        logging.basicConfig(level=log_level, force=True, stream=sys.stderr, **{"format": log_kwargs["format"]})
 
     if app.config.get("SECRET_KEY"):
         os.environ["SECRET_KEY"] = app.config["SECRET_KEY"]