diff --git a/docs/configuration.rst b/docs/configuration.rst
index a5fe78b3..873c5fe6 100644
--- a/docs/configuration.rst
+++ b/docs/configuration.rst
@@ -9425,7 +9425,8 @@ Example
             "format"     : "{asctime} {name}: {message}",
             "format-date": "%H:%M:%S",
             "path"       : "~/log.txt",
-            "encoding"   : "ascii"
+            "encoding"   : "ascii",
+            "defer"      : true
         }
 
     .. code:: json
@@ -9474,9 +9475,15 @@ Description
     * encoding
         * File encoding
         * Default: ``"utf-8"``
+    * defer
+        * Defer file opening/creation until writing the first logging message
+        * Default:
+          ``true`` for `errorfile <output.errorfile_>`__,
+          ``false`` otherwise
 Note
-    path, mode, and encoding are only applied when configuring
-    logging output to a file.
+    path, mode, encoding, and defer
+    are only applied when configuring logging output to a file.
+    (See `logging.FileHandler <https://docs.python.org/3/library/logging.handlers.html#filehandler>`__)
 
 
 Postprocessor Configuration
diff --git a/gallery_dl/__init__.py b/gallery_dl/__init__.py
index fdcb6d02..3e152a98 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/__init__.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/__init__.py
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ def main():
 
             # error file logging handler
             if handler := output.setup_logging_handler(
-                    "errorfile", fmt="{message}", mode="a"):
+                    "errorfile", fmt="{message}", mode="a", defer=True):
                 elog = input_manager.err = logging.getLogger("errorfile")
                 elog.addHandler(handler)
                 elog.propagate = False
diff --git a/gallery_dl/output.py b/gallery_dl/output.py
index 3be23e58..fe7235e1 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/output.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/output.py
@@ -176,6 +176,48 @@ class Formatter(logging.Formatter):
         return msg
 
 
+class FileHandler(logging.StreamHandler):
+    def __init__(self, path, mode, encoding, delay=True):
+        self.path = path
+        self.mode = mode
+        self.errors = None
+        self.encoding = encoding
+
+        if delay:
+            logging.Handler.__init__(self)
+            self.stream = None
+            self.emit = self.emit_delayed
+        else:
+            logging.StreamHandler.__init__(self, self._open())
+
+    def close(self):
+        with self.lock:
+            try:
+                if self.stream:
+                    try:
+                        self.flush()
+                        self.stream.close()
+                    finally:
+                        self.stream = None
+            finally:
+                logging.StreamHandler.close(self)
+
+    def _open(self):
+        try:
+            return open(self.path, self.mode,
+                        encoding=self.encoding, errors=self.errors)
+        except FileNotFoundError:
+            os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(self.path))
+            return open(self.path, self.mode,
+                        encoding=self.encoding, errors=self.errors)
+
+    def emit_delayed(self, record):
+        if self.mode != "w" or not self._closed:
+            self.stream = self._open()
+        self.emit = logging.StreamHandler.emit.__get__(self)
+        self.emit(record)
+
+
 def initialize_logging(loglevel):
     """Setup basic logging functionality before configfiles have been loaded"""
     # convert levelnames to lowercase
@@ -247,7 +289,8 @@ def configure_logging(loglevel):
     root.setLevel(minlevel)
 
 
-def setup_logging_handler(key, fmt=LOG_FORMAT, lvl=LOG_LEVEL, mode="w"):
+def setup_logging_handler(key, fmt=LOG_FORMAT, lvl=LOG_LEVEL, mode="w",
+                          defer=False):
     """Setup a new logging handler"""
     opts = config.interpolate(("output",), key)
     if not opts:
@@ -258,12 +301,10 @@ def setup_logging_handler(key, fmt=LOG_FORMAT, lvl=LOG_LEVEL, mode="w"):
     path = opts.get("path")
     mode = opts.get("mode", mode)
     encoding = opts.get("encoding", "utf-8")
+    delay = opts.get("defer", defer)
     try:
         path = util.expand_path(path)
-        handler = logging.FileHandler(path, mode, encoding)
-    except FileNotFoundError:
-        os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(path))
-        handler = logging.FileHandler(path, mode, encoding)
+        handler = FileHandler(path, mode, encoding, delay)
     except (OSError, ValueError) as exc:
         logging.getLogger("gallery-dl").warning(
             "%s: %s", key, exc)