diff --git a/include/h.h b/include/h.h
index 69d88a1e8..9df1bb04d 100644
--- a/include/h.h
+++ b/include/h.h
@@ -1090,10 +1090,13 @@ extern LogType log_type_stringtoval(char *str);
 extern char *log_type_valtostring(LogType v);
 #ifdef DEBUGMODE
 #define unreal_log(...) do_unreal_log(__VA_ARGS__, log_data_source(__FILE__, __LINE__, __FUNCTION__), NULL)
+#define unreal_log_raw(...) do_unreal_log_raw(__VA_ARGS__, log_data_source(__FILE__, __LINE__, __FUNCTION__), NULL)
 #else
 #define unreal_log(...) do_unreal_log(__VA_ARGS__, NULL)
+#define unreal_log_raw(...) do_unreal_log_raw(__VA_ARGS__, NULL)
 #endif
 extern void do_unreal_log(LogLevel loglevel, char *subsystem, char *event_id, Client *client, char *msg, ...) __attribute__((format(printf,5,0)));
+extern void do_unreal_log_raw(LogLevel loglevel, char *subsystem, char *event_id, Client *client, char *msg, ...);
 extern LogData *log_data_string(const char *key, const char *str);
 extern LogData *log_data_integer(const char *key, int64_t integer);
 extern LogData *log_data_client(const char *key, Client *client);
diff --git a/src/conf.c b/src/conf.c
index 437a8569f..eb396210e 100644
--- a/src/conf.c
+++ b/src/conf.c
@@ -1489,6 +1489,7 @@ void config_error(FORMAT_STRING(const char *format), ...)
 	va_end(ap);
 	if ((ptr = strchr(buffer, '\n')) != NULL)
 		*ptr = '\0';
+	unreal_log_raw(ULOG_ERROR, "config", "CONFIG_ERROR_GENERIC", NULL, buffer, NULL);
 	ircd_log(LOG_ERROR, "config error: %s", buffer);
 	sendto_realops("error: %s", buffer);
 	if (remote_rehash_client)
diff --git a/src/log.c b/src/log.c
index 86b5a6286..565b570e6 100644
--- a/src/log.c
+++ b/src/log.c
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 
 /* Forward declarations */
 long log_to_snomask(LogLevel loglevel, char *subsystem, char *event_id);
+void do_unreal_log_internal(LogLevel loglevel, char *subsystem, char *event_id, Client *client, int expand_msg, char *msg, va_list vl);
 
 LogType log_type_stringtoval(char *str)
 {
@@ -685,10 +686,27 @@ void do_unreal_log_loggers(LogLevel loglevel, char *subsystem, char *event_id, c
 
 /* Logging function, called by the unreal_log() macro. */
 void do_unreal_log(LogLevel loglevel, char *subsystem, char *event_id,
-                Client *client,
-                char *msg, ...)
+                   Client *client, char *msg, ...)
 {
 	va_list vl;
+	va_start(vl, msg);
+	do_unreal_log_internal(loglevel, subsystem, event_id, client, 1, msg, vl);
+	va_end(vl);
+}
+
+/* Logging function, called by the unreal_log_raw() macro. */
+void do_unreal_log_raw(LogLevel loglevel, char *subsystem, char *event_id,
+                       Client *client, char *msg, ...)
+{
+	va_list vl;
+	va_start(vl, msg);
+	do_unreal_log_internal(loglevel, subsystem, event_id, client, 0, msg, vl);
+	va_end(vl);
+}
+
+void do_unreal_log_internal(LogLevel loglevel, char *subsystem, char *event_id,
+                            Client *client, int expand_msg, char *msg, va_list vl)
+{
 	LogData *d;
 	char *json_serialized;
 	json_t *j = NULL;
@@ -718,7 +736,6 @@ void do_unreal_log(LogLevel loglevel, char *subsystem, char *event_id,
 	if (client)
 		json_expand_client(j_details, "client", client, 0);
 	/* Additional details (if any) */
-	va_start(vl, msg);
 	while ((d = va_arg(vl, LogData *)))
 	{
 		switch(d->type)
@@ -743,7 +760,12 @@ void do_unreal_log(LogLevel loglevel, char *subsystem, char *event_id,
 		}
 		log_data_free(d);
 	}
-	buildlogstring(msg, msgbuf, sizeof(msgbuf), j_details);
+
+	if (expand_msg)
+		buildlogstring(msg, msgbuf, sizeof(msgbuf), j_details);
+	else
+		strlcpy(msgbuf, msg, sizeof(msgbuf));
+
 	json_object_set_new(j, "msg", json_string(msgbuf));
 
 	/* Now merge the details into root object 'j': */
diff --git a/src/misc.c b/src/misc.c
index e629d0173..908f3f465 100644
--- a/src/misc.c
+++ b/src/misc.c
@@ -114,8 +114,7 @@ void ircd_log(int flags, FORMAT_STRING(const char *format), ...)
 	ircvsnprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), format, vl);
 	va_end(vl);
 
-	// This is a stupid escape trick, we better use a different method / other function
-	unreal_log(ULOG_ERROR, "unknown", "UNKNOWN", NULL, "$_data", log_data_string("_data", buf));
+	unreal_log_raw(ULOG_ERROR, "unknown", "UNKNOWN", NULL, buf);
 }
 
 /** Returns the date in rather long string */