diff --git a/dnstap/dtstream.c b/dnstap/dtstream.c
index dda3ef1ff..7c8a08604 100644
--- a/dnstap/dtstream.c
+++ b/dnstap/dtstream.c
@@ -1873,6 +1873,11 @@ static int dtio_open_output_local(struct dt_io_thread* dtio)
 	if(connect(dtio->fd, (struct sockaddr*)&s, (socklen_t)sizeof(s))
 		== -1) {
 		char* to = dtio->socket_path;
+		if(dtio->reconnect_timeout > DTIO_RECONNECT_TIMEOUT_MIN &&
+			verbosity < 4) {
+			dtio_close_fd(dtio);
+			return 0; /* no log retries on low verbosity */
+		}
 #ifndef USE_WINSOCK
 		log_err("dnstap io: failed to connect to \"%s\": %s",
 			to, strerror(errno));
@@ -1916,6 +1921,11 @@ static int dtio_open_output_tcp(struct dt_io_thread* dtio)
 	if(connect(dtio->fd, (struct sockaddr*)&addr, addrlen) == -1) {
 		if(errno == EINPROGRESS)
 			return 1; /* wait until connect done*/
+		if(dtio->reconnect_timeout > DTIO_RECONNECT_TIMEOUT_MIN &&
+			verbosity < 4) {
+			dtio_close_fd(dtio);
+			return 0; /* no log retries on low verbosity */
+		}
 #ifndef USE_WINSOCK
 		if(tcp_connect_errno_needs_log(
 			(struct sockaddr *)&addr, addrlen)) {
diff --git a/doc/Changelog b/doc/Changelog
index de643c8b1..1923c17ad 100644
--- a/doc/Changelog
+++ b/doc/Changelog
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+24 August 2020: Wouter
+	- Fix that dnstap reconnects do not spam the log with the repeated
+	  attempts.  Attempts on the timer are only logged on high verbosity,
+	  if they produce a connection failure error.
+
 20 August 2020: Ralph
 	- Fix stats double count issue (#289).