diff --git a/src/initctl.c b/src/initctl.c
index 67e0e6a3..6b11a7fa 100644
--- a/src/initctl.c
+++ b/src/initctl.c
@@ -161,8 +161,11 @@ static int do_log(char *svc)
 	if (!svc || !svc[0])
 		svc = "finit";
 
-	if (!fexist(logfile))
+	if (!fexist(logfile)) {
 		logfile = "/var/log/messages";
+		if (!fexist(logfile))
+			return 0; /* bail out, maybe in container */
+	}
 
 	return systemf("cat %s | grep %s | tail -10", logfile, svc);
 }