diff --git a/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go b/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go
index cef1a9325..04e232266 100644
--- a/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go
+++ b/pkg/apiserver/apiserver.go
@@ -136,12 +136,37 @@ func NewServer(config *csconfig.LocalApiServerCfg) (*APIServer, error) {
 
 	/*Configure logs*/
 	if logFile != "" {
+		_maxsize := 500
+		if config.LogMaxSize != 0 {
+			_maxsize = config.LogMaxSize
+		}
+		_maxfiles := 3
+		if config.LogMaxFiles != 0 {
+			_maxfiles = config.LogMaxFiles
+		}
+		_maxage := 28
+		if config.LogMaxAge != 0 {
+			_maxage = config.LogMaxAge
+		}
+		_compress := true
+		if config.CompressLogs != nil {
+			_compress = *config.CompressLogs
+		}
+		/*cf. https://github.com/natefinch/lumberjack/issues/82
+		let's create the file beforehand w/ the right perms */
+		// check if file exists
+		_, err := os.Stat(logFile)
+		// create file if not exists, purposefully ignore errors
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			file, _ := os.OpenFile(logFile, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE, 0600)
+			file.Close()
+		}
 		LogOutput := &lumberjack.Logger{
 			Filename:   logFile,
-			MaxSize:    500, //megabytes
-			MaxBackups: 3,
-			MaxAge:     28,   //days
-			Compress:   true, //disabled by default
+			MaxSize:    _maxsize, //megabytes
+			MaxBackups: _maxfiles,
+			MaxAge:     _maxage,   //days
+			Compress:   _compress, //disabled by default
 		}
 		clog.SetOutput(LogOutput)
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/apiserver/apiserver_test.go b/pkg/apiserver/apiserver_test.go
index 9531c6a45..22e2bde1a 100644
--- a/pkg/apiserver/apiserver_test.go
+++ b/pkg/apiserver/apiserver_test.go
@@ -368,9 +368,9 @@ func TestLoggingErrorToFileConfig(t *testing.T) {
 	time.Sleep(500 * time.Millisecond)
 
 	//check file content
-	_, err = ioutil.ReadFile(expectedFile)
-	if err == nil {
-		t.Fatalf("file should be empty")
+	x, err := ioutil.ReadFile(expectedFile)
+	if err == nil && len(x) > 0 {
+		t.Fatalf("file should be empty, got '%s'", x)
 	}
 
 	os.Remove("./crowdsec.log")
diff --git a/pkg/types/utils.go b/pkg/types/utils.go
index 13782c807..9c7c7774a 100644
--- a/pkg/types/utils.go
+++ b/pkg/types/utils.go
@@ -42,9 +42,19 @@ func SetDefaultLoggerConfig(cfgMode string, cfgFolder string, cfgLevel log.Level
 		if compress != nil {
 			_compress = *compress
 		}
+		/*cf. https://github.com/natefinch/lumberjack/issues/82
+		let's create the file beforehand w/ the right perms */
+		fname := cfgFolder + "/crowdsec.log"
+		// check if file exists
+		_, err := os.Stat(fname)
+		// create file if not exists, purposefully ignore errors
+		if os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			file, _ := os.OpenFile(fname, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE, 0600)
+			file.Close()
+		}
 
 		LogOutput = &lumberjack.Logger{
-			Filename:   cfgFolder + "/crowdsec.log",
+			Filename:   fname,
 			MaxSize:    _maxsize,
 			MaxBackups: _maxfiles,
 			MaxAge:     _maxage,