diff --git a/src/audio/playqueue.c b/src/audio/playqueue.c
index 305074fc..02eae894 100644
--- a/src/audio/playqueue.c
+++ b/src/audio/playqueue.c
@@ -276,7 +276,6 @@ PlayQueue_s *playq_createPlayQueue(const unsigned int *nodeIdPtr, unsigned long
 
 #define SELF_TEST 0
 #if SELF_TEST
-bool do_logging = true;
 
 static void _test_creation(void) {
     LOG("begin test");
diff --git a/src/meta/log.c b/src/meta/log.c
index 60692365..2b7c4977 100644
--- a/src/meta/log.c
+++ b/src/meta/log.c
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 
 #include "common.h"
 
+#define DO_STDERR_LOGGING 0
+
 // log.c :
 //  - simple and not-particularly-performant logging functions
 //  - do not call in a tight loop!
@@ -21,9 +23,6 @@
 
 #define LOG_PATH_TEMPLATE "%s%sapple2ix_log.%u.txt"
 
-bool do_logging = true;
-bool do_std_logging = true;
-
 static int logFd = -1;
 static off_t logSiz = 0;
 static const unsigned int logRotateSize = 1024 * 1024;
@@ -100,17 +99,15 @@ void log_outputString(const char * const str) {
         return;
     }
 
-    if (UNLIKELY(!do_logging)) {
-        return;
-    }
-
-    if (do_std_logging) {
+#if DO_STDERR_LOGGING
+    {
 #if defined(__ANDROID__) && !defined(NDEBUG)
         __android_log_print(ANDROID_LOG_ERROR, "apple2ix", "%s", str);
 #else
         fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", str);
 #endif
     }
+#endif
 
     if (UNLIKELY(logFd < 0)) {
         return;
diff --git a/src/meta/log.h b/src/meta/log.h
index f0148d62..0cd24640 100644
--- a/src/meta/log.h
+++ b/src/meta/log.h
@@ -23,12 +23,6 @@ extern GLenum safeGLGetError(void);
 #   define safeGLGetError() 0
 #endif
 
-// global logging kill switch
-extern bool do_logging;
-
-// log to the standard log facility (e.g., stderr)
-extern bool do_std_logging;
-
 // initialize logging facility
 void log_init(void);
 
@@ -98,22 +92,22 @@ void log_outputString(const char * const str);
 #endif
 
 #define LOG(...) \
-    if (LIKELY(do_logging)) { \
+    do { \
         GLenum _glerr = safeGLGetError(); \
         _LOG(__VA_ARGS__); \
         while ( (_glerr = safeGLGetError()) ) { \
             _LOG(__VA_ARGS__); \
         } \
-    } //
+    } while(0) //
 
 // GL_MAYBELOG() only logs if an OpenGL error occurred
 #   define GL_MAYBELOG(...) \
-    if (LIKELY(do_logging)) { \
+    do { \
         GLenum _glerr = 0; \
         while ( (_glerr = safeGLGetError()) ) { \
             _LOG(__VA_ARGS__); \
         } \
-    } //
+    } while(0) //
 
 #define QUIT_FUNCTION(x) exit(x)
 
diff --git a/src/test/testcommon.c b/src/test/testcommon.c
index 5a9543b7..5401ae5c 100644
--- a/src/test/testcommon.c
+++ b/src/test/testcommon.c
@@ -35,12 +35,6 @@ void test_breakpoint(void *arg) {
 }
 
 void test_common_init(void) {
-#if __ANDROID__
-    // tags help us wade through log soup
-#else
-    do_std_logging = false;// silence regular emulator logging
-#endif
-
     extern void emulator_ctors(void);
     emulator_ctors();
 
diff --git a/src/video/ncvideo.c b/src/video/ncvideo.c
index 2f3d6f88..130f114e 100644
--- a/src/video/ncvideo.c
+++ b/src/video/ncvideo.c
@@ -495,8 +495,7 @@ static void ncvideo_main_loop(void) {
     initscr();
     _nc_initColors();
 
-    LOG("ncurses video main loop beginning, silencing STDERR logging ...");
-    do_std_logging = false;
+    LOG("ncurses video main loop beginning ...");
 
     noecho();               // Do not echo output ...
     raw();                  // Line buffering disabled ...