diff --git a/sched/timeout_check.C b/sched/timeout_check.C
index f7b6a0ce61..1b0fc52eca 100644
--- a/sched/timeout_check.C
+++ b/sched/timeout_check.C
@@ -367,7 +367,7 @@ int main(int argc, char** argv) {
 
     // Call lock_file after fork(), because file locks are not always inherited
     if (lock_file(LOCKFILE)) {
-        fprintf(stderr, "Another copy of timeout_check is already running\n");
+        write_log("Another copy of timeout_check is already running\n", MSG_NORMAL);
         exit(1);
     }