diff --git a/src/nmdc-log-service/main.go b/src/nmdc-log-service/main.go
index 1684a72..eff93e7 100644
--- a/src/nmdc-log-service/main.go
+++ b/src/nmdc-log-service/main.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func LogMessage(hub, message string) {
 	// Produce a timestamp
 	timeStamp := instant.Format("2006-01-02 15:04:05")
 
-	fh, err := os.OpenFile(logFilePath, os.O_APPEND|os.O_CREATE, 0644)
+	fh, err := os.OpenFile(logFilePath, os.O_APPEND|os.O_CREATE|os.O_WRONLY, 0644)
 	if err != nil {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Couldn't open file '%s': %s\n", logFilePath, err.Error())
 		return