diff --git a/src/m_misc.c b/src/m_misc.c
index 69e554a2c..9149c9cce 100644
--- a/src/m_misc.c
+++ b/src/m_misc.c
@@ -2489,11 +2489,15 @@ boolean M_IsPathAbsolute(const char *path)
 
 /** I_mkdir for each part of the path.
 */
-void M_MkdirEach(const char *cpath, int start, int mode)
+void M_MkdirEachUntil(const char *cpath, int start, int end, int mode)
 {
 	char path[MAX_WADPATH];
 	char *p;
 	char *t;
+
+	if (end > 0 && end <= start)
+		return;
+
 	strlcpy(path, cpath, sizeof path);
 #ifdef _WIN32
 	if (strncmp(&path[1], ":\\", 2) == 0)
@@ -2501,6 +2505,10 @@ void M_MkdirEach(const char *cpath, int start, int mode)
 	else
 #endif
 		p = path;
+
+	if (end > 0)
+		end -= start;
+
 	for (; start > 0; --start)
 	{
 		p += strspn(p, PATHSEP);
@@ -2510,6 +2518,9 @@ void M_MkdirEach(const char *cpath, int start, int mode)
 	p += strspn(p, PATHSEP);
 	for (;;)
 	{
+		if (end > 0 && !--end)
+			break;
+
 		t = p;
 		if (( p = strchr(p, PATHSEP[0]) ))
 		{
@@ -2526,3 +2537,8 @@ void M_MkdirEach(const char *cpath, int start, int mode)
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+void M_MkdirEach(const char *path, int start, int mode)
+{
+	M_MkdirEachUntil(path, start, -1, mode);
+}
diff --git a/src/m_misc.h b/src/m_misc.h
index 9f570df20..e0a73e0b7 100644
--- a/src/m_misc.h
+++ b/src/m_misc.h
@@ -99,6 +99,7 @@ const char *M_FileError(FILE *handle);
 int     M_PathParts      (const char *path);
 boolean M_IsPathAbsolute (const char *path);
 void    M_MkdirEach      (const char *path, int start, int mode);
+void    M_MkdirEachUntil (const char *path, int start, int end, int mode);
 
 // counting bits, for weapon ammo code, usually
 FUNCMATH UINT8 M_CountBits(UINT32 num, UINT8 size);
diff --git a/src/sdl/i_main.c b/src/sdl/i_main.c
index 7a8ebcfd3..71b38841a 100644
--- a/src/sdl/i_main.c
+++ b/src/sdl/i_main.c
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		const char *format;
 		const char *reldir;
 		int left;
+		boolean fileabs;
 
 		logdir = D_Home();
 
@@ -144,38 +145,55 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 		timeinfo = localtime(&my_time);
 
 		if (M_CheckParm("-logfile") && M_IsNextParm())
+		{
 			format = M_GetNextParm();
+			fileabs = M_IsPathAbsolute(format);
+		}
 		else
+		{
 			format = "log-%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S.txt";
+			fileabs = false;
+		}
 
-		if (M_CheckParm("-logdir") && M_IsNextParm())
-			reldir = M_GetNextParm();
-		else
-			reldir = "logs";
-
-		if (M_IsPathAbsolute(reldir))
+		if (fileabs)
 		{
-			left = snprintf(logfile, sizeof logfile,
-					"%s"PATHSEP, reldir);
+			strftime(logfile, sizeof logfile, format, timeinfo);
+
+			M_MkdirEachUntil(logfile,
+					M_PathParts(logdir) - 1,
+					M_PathParts(logfile) - 1, 0755);
 		}
 		else
+		{
+			if (M_CheckParm("-logdir") && M_IsNextParm())
+				reldir = M_GetNextParm();
+			else
+				reldir = "logs";
+
+			if (M_IsPathAbsolute(reldir))
+			{
+				left = snprintf(logfile, sizeof logfile,
+						"%s"PATHSEP, reldir);
+			}
+			else
 #ifdef DEFAULTDIR
-		if (logdir)
-		{
-			left = snprintf(logfile, sizeof logfile,
-					"%s"PATHSEP DEFAULTDIR PATHSEP"%s"PATHSEP, logdir, reldir);
-		}
-		else
+			if (logdir)
+			{
+				left = snprintf(logfile, sizeof logfile,
+						"%s"PATHSEP DEFAULTDIR PATHSEP"%s"PATHSEP, logdir, reldir);
+			}
+			else
 #endif/*DEFAULTDIR*/
-		{
-			left = snprintf(logfile, sizeof logfile,
-					"."PATHSEP"%s"PATHSEP, reldir);
-		}
+			{
+				left = snprintf(logfile, sizeof logfile,
+						"."PATHSEP"%s"PATHSEP, reldir);
+			}
 #endif/*LOGMESSAGES*/
 
-		M_MkdirEach(logfile, M_PathParts(logdir) - 1, 0755);
+			M_MkdirEach(logfile, M_PathParts(logdir) - 1, 0755);
 
-		strftime(&logfile[left], sizeof logfile - left, format, timeinfo);
+			strftime(&logfile[left], sizeof logfile - left, format, timeinfo);
+		}
 
 		logstream = fopen(logfile, "wt");
 	}