diff --git a/scripts/geodata/geonames/geonames_sqlite.py b/scripts/geodata/geonames/geonames_sqlite.py
index 23be2100..17c56dbf 100644
--- a/scripts/geodata/geonames/geonames_sqlite.py
+++ b/scripts/geodata/geonames/geonames_sqlite.py
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ from geodata.log import *
 
 from itertools import islice, chain
 
-log_to_stdout()
+log_to_file(sys.stderr)
 logger = logging.getLogger('geonames.sqlite')
 
 GEONAMES_DB_NAME = 'geonames.db'
diff --git a/scripts/geodata/log.py b/scripts/geodata/log.py
index 43c702a5..f6636785 100644
--- a/scripts/geodata/log.py
+++ b/scripts/geodata/log.py
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ import logging
 import sys
 
 
-def log_to_stdout(level=logging.INFO):
-    handler = logging.StreamHandler(sys.stdout)
+def log_to_file(f, level=logging.INFO):
+    handler = logging.StreamHandler(f)
     formatter = logging.Formatter('%(asctime)s %(levelname)s [%(name)s]: %(message)s')
     handler.setFormatter(formatter)
     logging.root.addHandler(handler)