diff --git a/roles/mariadb_server/files/my.cnf.qa-stg01.qa.fedoraproject.org b/roles/mariadb_server/files/my.cnf.qa-stg01.qa.fedoraproject.org
index b0593e0843..7b5fcd20c4 100644
--- a/roles/mariadb_server/files/my.cnf.qa-stg01.qa.fedoraproject.org
+++ b/roles/mariadb_server/files/my.cnf.qa-stg01.qa.fedoraproject.org
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ read_buffer_size = 256K
 read_rnd_buffer_size = 512K
 myisam_sort_buffer_size = 8M
 
+# change the log dir so that it'll initialize with the new init script
+log-error=/var/log/mariadb/mariadb.log
+
 # setting STRICT_ALL_TABLES for phabricator
 sql_mode=STRICT_ALL_TABLES
 
@@ -154,4 +157,4 @@ interactive-timeout
 #
 # include all files from the config directory
 #
-!includedir @INSTALL_SYSCONF2DIR@
+#!includedir @INSTALL_SYSCONF2DIR@