diff --git a/pkg/init/cmd/service/logging.go b/pkg/init/cmd/service/logging.go
index 7f34dabff..07dd7df69 100644
--- a/pkg/init/cmd/service/logging.go
+++ b/pkg/init/cmd/service/logging.go
@@ -100,7 +100,14 @@ type remoteLog struct {
 // Path returns the name of a FIFO connected to the logging daemon.
 func (r *remoteLog) Path(n string) string {
 	path := filepath.Join(r.fifoDir, n+".log")
+	// replicate behavior of os.Create(path) for a fileLog.
+	// if a file exists at the given path, os.Create will truncate it.
+	// syscall.Mkfifo on the other hand fails when a file exists at the given path.
+	if _, err := os.Stat(path); err == nil {
+		os.Remove(path)
+	}
 	if err := syscall.Mkfifo(path, 0600); err != nil {
+		log.Printf("failed to create fifo %s: %s", path, err)
 		return "/dev/null"
 	}
 	go func() {