diff --git a/src/lxc/log.c b/src/lxc/log.c
index a257f6718..201cf474c 100644
--- a/src/lxc/log.c
+++ b/src/lxc/log.c
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <pthread.h>
+#include <time.h>
 
 #define __USE_GNU /* for *_CLOEXEC */
 
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@
 
 #define LXC_LOG_PREFIX_SIZE	32
 #define LXC_LOG_BUFFER_SIZE	512
+#define LXC_LOG_DATEFOMAT_SIZE  15
 
 int lxc_log_fd = -1;
 int lxc_quiet_specified;
@@ -69,7 +71,9 @@ static int log_append_stderr(const struct lxc_log_appender *appender,
 static int log_append_logfile(const struct lxc_log_appender *appender,
 			      struct lxc_log_event *event)
 {
+	char date[LXC_LOG_DATEFOMAT_SIZE] = "20150427012246";
 	char buffer[LXC_LOG_BUFFER_SIZE];
+	const struct tm *t;
 	int n;
 	int ms;
 	int fd_to_use = -1;
@@ -85,11 +89,13 @@ static int log_append_logfile(const struct lxc_log_appender *appender,
 	if (fd_to_use == -1)
 		return 0;
 
+	t = localtime(&event->timestamp.tv_sec);
+	strftime(date, sizeof(LXC_LOG_DATEFOMAT_SIZE), "%Y%m%d%H%M%S", t);
 	ms = event->timestamp.tv_usec / 1000;
 	n = snprintf(buffer, sizeof(buffer),
-		     "%15s %10ld.%03d %-8s %s - %s:%s:%d - ",
+		     "%15s %10s.%03d %-8s %s - %s:%s:%d - ",
 		     log_prefix,
-		     event->timestamp.tv_sec,
+		     date,
 		     ms,
 		     lxc_log_priority_to_string(event->priority),
 		     event->category,