diff --git a/src/initctl.c b/src/initctl.c
index e9bb1fb4..c0992966 100644
--- a/src/initctl.c
+++ b/src/initctl.c
@@ -115,13 +115,13 @@ static int toggle_debug(char *arg)
 static int do_log(char *svc)
 {
 	char cmd[128];
-	char *logfile = "/var/log/messages";
+	char *logfile = "/var/log/syslog";
 
 	if (!svc || !svc[0])
 		svc = "finit";
 
 	if (!fexist(logfile))
-		logfile = "/var/log/syslog";
+		logfile = "/var/log/messages";
 
 	snprintf(cmd, sizeof(cmd), "cat %s | grep %s | tail -10", logfile, svc);