diff --git a/docs/settings.rst b/docs/settings.rst
index 9d68d0c82af6..4bd55ea8ad68 100644
--- a/docs/settings.rst
+++ b/docs/settings.rst
@@ -601,7 +601,7 @@ regression testing.
 -  Boolean
 -  Default: no
 
-Do not log to syslog, only to stdout. Use this setting when running
+Do not log to syslog, only to stderr. Use this setting when running
 inside a supervisor that handles logging (like systemd).
 
 .. warning::
@@ -961,7 +961,7 @@ to at least 5 to see the logs.
 - Bool
 - Default: yes
 
-When printing log lines to stdout, prefix them with timestamps.
+When printing log lines to stderr, prefix them with timestamps.
 Disable this if the process supervisor timestamps these lines already.
 
 .. note::
diff --git a/pdns/auth-main.cc b/pdns/auth-main.cc
index 4155b743de56..26db997eb559 100644
--- a/pdns/auth-main.cc
+++ b/pdns/auth-main.cc
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ static void declareArguments()
   ::arg().set("control-console", "Debugging switch - don't use") = "no"; // but I know you will!
   ::arg().set("loglevel", "Amount of logging. Higher is more. Do not set below 3") = "4";
   ::arg().setSwitch("loglevel-show", "Include log level indicator in log output") = "no";
-  ::arg().set("disable-syslog", "Disable logging to syslog, useful when running inside a supervisor that logs stdout") = "no";
+  ::arg().set("disable-syslog", "Disable logging to syslog, useful when running inside a supervisor that logs stderr") = "no";
   ::arg().set("log-timestamp", "Print timestamps in log lines") = "yes";
   ::arg().set("distributor-threads", "Default number of Distributor (backend) threads to start") = "3";
   ::arg().set("signing-threads", "Default number of signer threads to start") = "3";
diff --git a/pdns/recursordist/docs/running.rst b/pdns/recursordist/docs/running.rst
index c979e35efbd1..19473ad88100 100644
--- a/pdns/recursordist/docs/running.rst
+++ b/pdns/recursordist/docs/running.rst
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Logging
 In a production environment, you will want to be able to monitor PowerDNS performance.
 Furthermore, PowerDNS can perform a configurable amount of operational logging.
 
-On modern Linux distributions, the PowerDNS recursor logs to stdout, which is consumed by ``systemd-journald``.
+On modern Linux distributions, the PowerDNS recursor logs to stderr, which is consumed by ``systemd-journald``.
 This means that looking into the logs that are produced, `journalctl <https://www.freedesktop.org/software/systemd/man/journalctl.html>`_ can be used::
 
     # journalctl -u pdns-recursor -n 100
diff --git a/pdns/recursordist/settings/table.py b/pdns/recursordist/settings/table.py
index 0d9da85d4540..d47cd58df881 100644
--- a/pdns/recursordist/settings/table.py
+++ b/pdns/recursordist/settings/table.py
@@ -535,9 +535,9 @@
         'section' : 'logging',
         'type' : LType.Bool,
         'default' : 'false',
-        'help' : 'Disable logging to syslog, useful when running inside a supervisor that logs stdout',
+        'help' : 'Disable logging to syslog, useful when running inside a supervisor that logs stderr',
         'doc' : '''
-Do not log to syslog, only to stdout.
+Do not log to syslog, only to stderr.
 Use this setting when running inside a supervisor that handles logging (like systemd).
 **Note**: do not use this setting in combination with :ref:`setting-daemon` as all logging will disappear.
  ''',
@@ -1261,7 +1261,7 @@
         'oldname' : 'log-timestamp',
         'type' : LType.Bool,
         'default' : 'true',
-        'help' : 'Print timestamps in log lines, useful to disable when running with a tool that timestamps stdout already',
+        'help' : 'Print timestamps in log lines, useful to disable when running with a tool that timestamps stderr already',
         'doc' : '''
 
  ''',