diff --git a/middleware/errors/README.md b/middleware/errors/README.md
index aa3b170af..461cdfec8 100644
--- a/middleware/errors/README.md
+++ b/middleware/errors/README.md
@@ -6,35 +6,21 @@ TODO: what are errors.
 ## Syntax
 
 ~~~
-errors [LOGFILE]
+errors [FILE]
 ~~~
 
-* **LOGFILE** is the path to the error log file to create (or append to), relative to the current
-  working directory. It can also be `stdout` or `stderr` to write to the console, syslog to write to the
-  system log (except on Windows), or visible to write the error (including full stack trace, if
-  applicable) to the response. Writing errors to the response is NOT advised except in local debug
-  situations. The default is stderr. The above syntax will simply enable error reporting on the
-  server. To specify custom error pages, open a block:
-
-~~~
-errors {
-    what where
-}
-~~~
-
-* `what` can only be `log`.
-* `where` is the path to the log file (as described above) and you can enable rotation to manage the log files.
+* **FILE** is the log file to create (or append to). The *only* valid name for **FILE** is *stdout*
 
 ## Examples
 
-Log errors into a file in the parent directory:
+Log errors to *stdout*.
 
 ~~~
-errors ../error.log
+errors
 ~~~
 
-Make errors visible to the client (for debugging only):
+Log errors to *stdout*.
 
 ~~~
-errors visible
+errors stdout
 ~~~
diff --git a/middleware/errors/errors.go b/middleware/errors/errors.go
index d2b6f3a22..057e65089 100644
--- a/middleware/errors/errors.go
+++ b/middleware/errors/errors.go
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ type errorHandler struct {
 	Next    middleware.Handler
 	LogFile string
 	Log     *log.Logger
-	Debug   bool // if true, errors are written out to client rather than to a log
 }
 
 // ServeDNS implements the middleware.Handler interface.
@@ -33,15 +32,6 @@ func (h errorHandler) ServeDNS(ctx context.Context, w dns.ResponseWriter, r *dns
 		state := request.Request{W: w, Req: r}
 		errMsg := fmt.Sprintf("%s [ERROR %d %s %s] %v", time.Now().Format(timeFormat), rcode, state.Name(), state.Type(), err)
 
-		if h.Debug {
-			// Write error to response as a txt message instead of to log
-			answer := debugMsg(rcode, r)
-			txt, _ := dns.NewRR(". IN 0 TXT " + errMsg)
-			answer.Answer = append(answer.Answer, txt)
-			state.SizeAndDo(answer)
-			w.WriteMsg(answer)
-			return 0, err
-		}
 		h.Log.Println(errMsg)
 	}
 
@@ -56,7 +46,6 @@ func (h errorHandler) recovery(ctx context.Context, w dns.ResponseWriter, r *dns
 		return
 	}
 
-	state := request.Request{W: w, Req: r}
 	// Obtain source of panic
 	// From: https://gist.github.com/swdunlop/9629168
 	var name, file string // function name, file name
@@ -83,20 +72,8 @@ func (h errorHandler) recovery(ctx context.Context, w dns.ResponseWriter, r *dns
 	}
 
 	panicMsg := fmt.Sprintf("%s [PANIC %s %s] %s:%d - %v", time.Now().Format(timeFormat), r.Question[0].Name, dns.Type(r.Question[0].Qtype), file, line, rec)
-	if h.Debug {
-		// Write error and stack trace to the response rather than to a log
-		var stackBuf [4096]byte
-		stack := stackBuf[:runtime.Stack(stackBuf[:], false)]
-		answer := debugMsg(dns.RcodeServerFailure, r)
-		// add stack buf in TXT, limited to 255 chars for now.
-		txt, _ := dns.NewRR(". IN 0 TXT " + string(stack[:255]))
-		answer.Answer = append(answer.Answer, txt)
-		state.SizeAndDo(answer)
-		w.WriteMsg(answer)
-	} else {
-		// Currently we don't use the function name, since file:line is more conventional
-		h.Log.Printf(panicMsg)
-	}
+	// Currently we don't use the function name, since file:line is more conventional
+	h.Log.Printf(panicMsg)
 }
 
 // debugMsg creates a debug message that gets send back to the client.
diff --git a/middleware/errors/errors_test.go b/middleware/errors/errors_test.go
index 1d389ba47..5e565964c 100644
--- a/middleware/errors/errors_test.go
+++ b/middleware/errors/errors_test.go
@@ -66,30 +66,6 @@ func TestErrors(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
-func TestVisibleErrorWithPanic(t *testing.T) {
-	const panicMsg = "I'm a panic"
-	eh := errorHandler{
-		Debug: true,
-		Next: middleware.HandlerFunc(func(ctx context.Context, w dns.ResponseWriter, r *dns.Msg) (int, error) {
-			panic(panicMsg)
-		}),
-	}
-
-	ctx := context.TODO()
-	req := new(dns.Msg)
-	req.SetQuestion("example.org.", dns.TypeA)
-
-	rec := dnsrecorder.New(&test.ResponseWriter{})
-
-	code, err := eh.ServeDNS(ctx, rec, req)
-	if code != 0 {
-		t.Errorf("Expected error handler to return 0 (it should write to response), got status %d", code)
-	}
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("Expected error handler to return nil error (it should panic!), but got '%v'", err)
-	}
-}
-
 func genErrorHandler(rcode int, err error) middleware.Handler {
 	return middleware.HandlerFunc(func(ctx context.Context, w dns.ResponseWriter, r *dns.Msg) (int, error) {
 		return rcode, err
diff --git a/middleware/errors/setup.go b/middleware/errors/setup.go
index 787b89724..af9a7bbff 100644
--- a/middleware/errors/setup.go
+++ b/middleware/errors/setup.go
@@ -1,14 +1,13 @@
 package errors
 
 import (
-	"io"
+	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
 
 	"github.com/coredns/coredns/core/dnsserver"
 	"github.com/coredns/coredns/middleware"
 
-	"github.com/hashicorp/go-syslog"
 	"github.com/mholt/caddy"
 )
 
@@ -25,34 +24,7 @@ func setup(c *caddy.Controller) error {
 		return middleware.Error("errors", err)
 	}
 
-	var writer io.Writer
-
-	switch handler.LogFile {
-	case "visible":
-		handler.Debug = true
-	case "stdout":
-		writer = os.Stdout
-	case "stderr":
-		writer = os.Stderr
-	case "syslog":
-		writer, err = gsyslog.NewLogger(gsyslog.LOG_ERR, "LOCAL0", "coredns")
-		if err != nil {
-			return middleware.Error("errors", err)
-		}
-	default:
-		if handler.LogFile == "" {
-			writer = os.Stderr // default
-			break
-		}
-
-		var file *os.File
-		file, err = os.OpenFile(handler.LogFile, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_APPEND, 0644)
-		if err != nil {
-			return middleware.Error("errors", err)
-		}
-		writer = file
-	}
-	handler.Log = log.New(writer, "", 0)
+	handler.Log = log.New(os.Stdout, "", 0)
 
 	dnsserver.GetConfig(c).AddMiddleware(func(next middleware.Handler) middleware.Handler {
 		handler.Next = next
@@ -65,47 +37,19 @@ func setup(c *caddy.Controller) error {
 func errorsParse(c *caddy.Controller) (errorHandler, error) {
 	handler := errorHandler{}
 
-	optionalBlock := func() (bool, error) {
-		var hadBlock bool
-
-		for c.NextBlock() {
-			hadBlock = true
-
-			what := c.Val()
-			if !c.NextArg() {
-				return hadBlock, c.ArgErr()
-			}
-			where := c.Val()
-
-			if what == "log" {
-				if where == "visible" {
-					handler.Debug = true
-				} else {
-					handler.LogFile = where
-				}
-			}
-		}
-		return hadBlock, nil
-	}
-
 	for c.Next() {
-		// Configuration may be in a block
-		hadBlock, err := optionalBlock()
-		if err != nil {
-			return handler, err
-		}
-
-		// Otherwise, the only argument would be an error log file name or 'visible'
-		if !hadBlock {
-			if c.NextArg() {
-				if c.Val() == "visible" {
-					handler.Debug = true
-				} else {
-					handler.LogFile = c.Val()
-				}
+		args := c.RemainingArgs()
+		switch len(args) {
+		case 0:
+			handler.LogFile = "stdout"
+		case 1:
+			if args[0] != "stdout" {
+				return handler, fmt.Errorf("invalid log file: %s", args[0])
 			}
+			handler.LogFile = args[0]
+		default:
+			return handler, c.ArgErr()
 		}
 	}
-
 	return handler, nil
 }
diff --git a/middleware/errors/setup_test.go b/middleware/errors/setup_test.go
index adae0009c..bae85da32 100644
--- a/middleware/errors/setup_test.go
+++ b/middleware/errors/setup_test.go
@@ -13,18 +13,19 @@ func TestErrorsParse(t *testing.T) {
 		expectedErrorHandler errorHandler
 	}{
 		{`errors`, false, errorHandler{
+			LogFile: "stdout",
+		}},
+		{`errors stdout`, false, errorHandler{
+			LogFile: "stdout",
+		}},
+		{`errors errors.txt`, true, errorHandler{
 			LogFile: "",
 		}},
-		{`errors errors.txt`, false, errorHandler{
-			LogFile: "errors.txt",
-		}},
-		{`errors visible`, false, errorHandler{
+		{`errors visible`, true, errorHandler{
 			LogFile: "",
-			Debug:   true,
 		}},
-		{`errors { log visible }`, false, errorHandler{
-			LogFile: "",
-			Debug:   true,
+		{`errors { log visible }`, true, errorHandler{
+			LogFile: "stdout",
 		}},
 	}
 	for i, test := range tests {
@@ -40,9 +41,5 @@ func TestErrorsParse(t *testing.T) {
 			t.Errorf("Test %d expected LogFile to be %s, but got %s",
 				i, test.expectedErrorHandler.LogFile, actualErrorsRule.LogFile)
 		}
-		if actualErrorsRule.Debug != test.expectedErrorHandler.Debug {
-			t.Errorf("Test %d expected Debug to be %v, but got %v",
-				i, test.expectedErrorHandler.Debug, actualErrorsRule.Debug)
-		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/middleware/log/README.md b/middleware/log/README.md
index 812fa20bb..e4808433f 100644
--- a/middleware/log/README.md
+++ b/middleware/log/README.md
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 # log
 
-*log* enables query logging.
+*log* enables query logging to standard output.
 
 ## Syntax
 
@@ -8,20 +8,20 @@
 log
 ~~~
 
-* With no arguments, a query log entry is written to query.log in the common log format for all requests
+* With no arguments, a query log entry is written to *stdout* in the common log format for all requests
 
 ~~~ txt
 log FILE
 ~~~
 
-* **FILE** is the log file to create (or append to).
+* **FILE** is the log file to create (or append to). The *only* valid name for **FILE** is *stdout*.
 
 ~~~ txt
 log [NAME] FILE [FORMAT]
 ~~~
 
 * `NAME` is the name to match in order to be logged
-* `FILE` is the log file to create (or append to)
+* `FILE` is the log file (again only *stdout* is allowed here).
 * `FORMAT` is the log format to use (default is Common Log Format)
 
 You can further specify the class of responses that get logged:
@@ -45,9 +45,8 @@ If no class is specified, it defaults to *all*.
 
 ## Log File
 
-The log file can be any filename. It could also be *stdout* or *stderr* to write the log to the console,
-or *syslog* to write to the system log (except on Windows). If the log file does not exist beforehand,
-CoreDNS will create it before appending to it.
+The "log file" can only be *stdout*. CoreDNS expects another service to pick up this output and deal
+with it, i.e. journald when using systemd or Docker's logging capabilities.
 
 ## Log Format
 
@@ -80,22 +79,22 @@ The default Common Log Format is:
 
 ## Examples
 
-Log all requests to a file:
+Log all requests to stdout
 
 ~~~
-log /var/log/query.log
+log stdout
 ~~~
 
-Custom log format:
+Custom log format, for all zones (`.`)
 
 ~~~
-log . ../query.log "{proto} Request: {name} {type} {>id}"
+log . stdout "{proto} Request: {name} {type} {>id}"
 ~~~
 
 Only log denials for example.org (and below to a file)
 
 ~~~
-log example.org example-query-log {
+log example.org stdout {
     class denial
 }
 ~~~
diff --git a/middleware/log/log.go b/middleware/log/log.go
index 456ed9aba..aacffa663 100644
--- a/middleware/log/log.go
+++ b/middleware/log/log.go
@@ -78,8 +78,8 @@ type Rule struct {
 }
 
 const (
-	// DefaultLogFilename is the default log filename.
-	DefaultLogFilename = "query.log"
+	// DefaultLogFilename is the default output name.
+	DefaultLogFilename = "stdout"
 	// CommonLogFormat is the common log format.
 	CommonLogFormat = `{remote} ` + CommonLogEmptyValue + ` [{when}] "{type} {class} {name} {proto} {size} {>do} {>bufsize}" {rcode} {rsize} {duration}`
 	// CommonLogEmptyValue is the common empty log value.
diff --git a/middleware/log/setup.go b/middleware/log/setup.go
index ce4f5c44d..498829888 100644
--- a/middleware/log/setup.go
+++ b/middleware/log/setup.go
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 package log
 
 import (
-	"io"
+	"fmt"
 	"log"
 	"os"
 
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/coredns/coredns/middleware"
 	"github.com/coredns/coredns/middleware/pkg/response"
 
-	"github.com/hashicorp/go-syslog"
 	"github.com/mholt/caddy"
 	"github.com/miekg/dns"
 )
@@ -30,25 +29,10 @@ func setup(c *caddy.Controller) error {
 	// Open the log files for writing when the server starts
 	c.OnStartup(func() error {
 		for i := 0; i < len(rules); i++ {
-			var err error
-			var writer io.Writer
-
-			if rules[i].OutputFile == "stdout" {
-				writer = os.Stdout
-			} else if rules[i].OutputFile == "stderr" {
-				writer = os.Stderr
-			} else if rules[i].OutputFile == "syslog" {
-				writer, err = gsyslog.NewLogger(gsyslog.LOG_INFO, "LOCAL0", "coredns")
-				if err != nil {
-					return middleware.Error("log", err)
-				}
-			} else {
-				var file *os.File
-				file, err = os.OpenFile(rules[i].OutputFile, os.O_RDWR|os.O_CREATE|os.O_APPEND, 0644)
-				if err != nil {
-					return middleware.Error("log", err)
-				}
-				writer = file
+			// We only support stdout
+			writer := os.Stdout
+			if rules[i].OutputFile != "stdout" {
+				return middleware.Error("log", fmt.Errorf("invalid log file: %s", rules[i].OutputFile))
 			}
 
 			rules[i].Log = log.New(writer, "", 0)
@@ -78,7 +62,7 @@ func logParse(c *caddy.Controller) ([]Rule, error) {
 				Format:     DefaultLogFormat,
 			})
 		} else if len(args) == 1 {
-			// Only an output file specified
+			// Only an output file specified.
 			rules = append(rules, Rule{
 				NameScope:  ".",
 				OutputFile: args[0],
diff --git a/middleware/log/setup_test.go b/middleware/log/setup_test.go
index 48bfbfa04..596239312 100644
--- a/middleware/log/setup_test.go
+++ b/middleware/log/setup_test.go
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ func TestLogParse(t *testing.T) {
 			Format:     CombinedLogFormat,
 		}}},
 		{`log example.org. log.txt
-			  log example.net accesslog.txt {combined}`, false, []Rule{{
+		log example.net accesslog.txt {combined}`, false, []Rule{{
 			NameScope:  "example.org.",
 			OutputFile: "log.txt",
 			Format:     DefaultLogFormat,