diff --git a/src/or/main.c b/src/or/main.c
index 148c6e0307..9705b69d58 100644
--- a/src/or/main.c
+++ b/src/or/main.c
@@ -473,9 +473,10 @@ conn_close_if_marked(int i)
     if (retval >= 0 && /* Technically, we could survive things like
                           TLS_WANT_WRITE here. But don't bother for now. */
         conn->hold_open_until_flushed && connection_wants_to_flush(conn)) {
-      LOG_FN_CONN(conn, (LOG_INFO,LD_NET,
-                         "Holding conn (fd %d) open for more flushing.",
-                         conn->s));
+      if (retval > 0)
+        LOG_FN_CONN(conn, (LOG_INFO,LD_NET,
+                           "Holding conn (fd %d) open for more flushing.",
+                           conn->s));
       /* XXX should we reset timestamp_lastwritten here? */
       return 0;
     }