diff --git a/letsencrypt/colored_logging.py b/letsencrypt/colored_logging.py
index fd4a2b2fe..c47ad2707 100644
--- a/letsencrypt/colored_logging.py
+++ b/letsencrypt/colored_logging.py
@@ -35,10 +35,9 @@ class StreamHandler(logging.StreamHandler):
         :rtype: str
 
         """
-        output = super(StreamHandler, self).format(record)
+        out = (StreamHandler.format(self, record) if sys.version_info < (2, 7)
+               else super(StreamHandler, self).format(record))
         if self.colored and record.levelno >= self.red_level:
-            return ''.join((le_util.ANSI_SGR_RED,
-                            output,
-                            le_util.ANSI_SGR_RESET))
+            return ''.join((le_util.ANSI_SGR_RED, out, le_util.ANSI_SGR_RESET))
         else:
-            return output
+            return out