diff --git lib/libc/gen/syslog.c lib/libc/gen/syslog.c
index 2424cef78dd7..08bdfdbeb1e7 100644
--- lib/libc/gen/syslog.c
+++ lib/libc/gen/syslog.c
@@ -218,7 +218,7 @@ vsyslog1(int pri, const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 	 * specified, as it provides valuable information. Many
 	 * applications tend not to use this, even though they should.
 	 */
-	if (LogPid == -1)
+	if (LogTagLength <= 0)
 		LogPid = getpid();
 	(void)fprintf(fp, "%d ", (int)LogPid);
 	/* Message ID. */