diff --git a/src/aiori.c b/src/aiori.c
index 7b0c160..05e4935 100644
--- a/src/aiori.c
+++ b/src/aiori.c
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ void * airoi_update_module_options(const ior_aiori_t * backend, options_all_t *
 }
 
 options_all_t * airoi_create_all_module_options(option_help * global_options){
+  if(! out_logfile) out_logfile = stdout;
   int airoi_c = aiori_count();
   options_all_t * opt = malloc(sizeof(options_all_t));
   opt->module_count = airoi_c + 1;
diff --git a/src/utilities.c b/src/utilities.c
index 19ef0d6..5b65e55 100755
--- a/src/utilities.c
+++ b/src/utilities.c
@@ -60,8 +60,8 @@ int      rankOffset = 0;
 int      verbose = VERBOSE_0;        /* verbose output */
 MPI_Comm testComm;
 MPI_Comm mpi_comm_world;
-FILE * out_logfile;
-FILE * out_resultfile;
+FILE * out_logfile = NULL;
+FILE * out_resultfile = NULL;
 enum OutputFormat_t outputFormat;
 
 /***************************** F U N C T I O N S ******************************/