diff --git a/android/cpp/jni.cpp b/android/cpp/jni.cpp
index 1163c33b5..62e153e9b 100644
--- a/android/cpp/jni.cpp
+++ b/android/cpp/jni.cpp
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 #include <mbgl/android/jni.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/android/native_map_view.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/map/map.hpp>
-#include <mbgl/platform/android/log_android.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/platform/event.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/platform/log.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/storage/network_status.hpp>
@@ -827,8 +826,6 @@ jobject JNICALL nativeLatLngForPixel(JNIEnv *env, jobject obj, jlong nativeMapVi
 extern "C" {
 
 extern "C" JNIEXPORT jint JNICALL JNI_OnLoad(JavaVM *vm, void *reserved) {
-    mbgl::Log::Set<mbgl::AndroidLogBackend>();
-
     mbgl::Log::Debug(mbgl::Event::JNI, "JNI_OnLoad");
 
     JNIEnv *env = nullptr;
diff --git a/bin/render.cpp b/bin/render.cpp
index 71981b9d9..01f692909 100644
--- a/bin/render.cpp
+++ b/bin/render.cpp
@@ -5,15 +5,10 @@
 
 #include <mbgl/platform/default/headless_view.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/platform/default/headless_display.hpp>
+#include <mbgl/platform/log.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/storage/default_file_source.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/storage/default/sqlite_cache.hpp>
 
-#if __APPLE__
-#include <mbgl/platform/darwin/log_nslog.hpp>
-#else
-#include <mbgl/platform/default/log_stderr.hpp>
-#endif
-
 #pragma GCC diagnostic push
 #ifndef __clang__
 #pragma GCC diagnostic ignored "-Wunused-local-typedefs"
@@ -71,13 +66,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
 
     using namespace mbgl;
 
-
-#if __APPLE__
-    Log::Set<NSLogBackend>();
-#else
-    Log::Set<StderrLogBackend>();
-#endif
-
     mbgl::SQLiteCache cache(cache_file);
     mbgl::DefaultFileSource fileSource(&cache);
 
diff --git a/include/mbgl/platform/android/log_android.hpp b/include/mbgl/platform/android/log_android.hpp
deleted file mode 100644
index 94d90a9b3..000000000
--- a/include/mbgl/platform/android/log_android.hpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,24 +0,0 @@
-#ifndef MBGL_PLATFORM_ANDROID_LOG_ANDROID
-#define MBGL_PLATFORM_ANDROID_LOG_ANDROID
-
-#include <mbgl/platform/log.hpp>
-
-namespace mbgl {
-
-class AndroidLogBackend : public LogBackend {
-private:
-    int severityToPriority(EventSeverity severity);
-
-public:
-    inline ~AndroidLogBackend() = default;
-
-    void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, const std::string &msg);
-    void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, const char* format, ...);
-    void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code);
-    void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code, const std::string &msg);
-};
-
-
-}
-
-#endif
diff --git a/include/mbgl/platform/darwin/log_nslog.hpp b/include/mbgl/platform/darwin/log_nslog.hpp
deleted file mode 100644
index 5b2ed0411..000000000
--- a/include/mbgl/platform/darwin/log_nslog.hpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-#ifndef MBGL_COMMON_NSLOG_LOG
-#define MBGL_COMMON_NSLOG_LOG
-
-#include <mbgl/platform/log.hpp>
-
-namespace mbgl {
-
-class NSLogBackend : public LogBackend {
-public:
-    inline ~NSLogBackend() = default;
-
-    void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code, const std::string &msg);
-};
-
-
-}
-
-#endif
diff --git a/include/mbgl/platform/default/log_stderr.hpp b/include/mbgl/platform/default/log_stderr.hpp
deleted file mode 100644
index e07357593..000000000
--- a/include/mbgl/platform/default/log_stderr.hpp
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-#ifndef MBGL_COMMON_STDERR_LOG
-#define MBGL_COMMON_STDERR_LOG
-
-#include <mbgl/platform/log.hpp>
-
-namespace mbgl {
-
-class StderrLogBackend : public LogBackend {
-public:
-    inline ~StderrLogBackend() = default;
-
-    void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code, const std::string &msg) override;
-};
-
-
-}
-
-#endif
diff --git a/include/mbgl/platform/log.hpp b/include/mbgl/platform/log.hpp
index e5431a07c..e6b8f17b6 100644
--- a/include/mbgl/platform/log.hpp
+++ b/include/mbgl/platform/log.hpp
@@ -10,17 +10,6 @@
 
 namespace mbgl {
 
-class LogBackend {
-public:
-    virtual inline ~LogBackend() = default;
-
-    void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, const std::string &msg);
-    void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, const char* format, ...);
-    void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code);
-
-    virtual void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code, const std::string &msg) = 0;
-};
-
 class Log {
 private:
     template <typename T, size_t N>
@@ -54,20 +43,20 @@ public:
         if (!includes(severity, disabledEventSeverities) &&
             !includes(event, disabledEvents) &&
             !includes({ severity, event }, disabledEventPermutations)) {
-            if (Backend) {
-                Backend->record(severity, event, ::std::forward<Args>(args)...);
-            }
+                record(severity, event, ::std::forward<Args>(args)...);
         }
     }
 
-    template<typename T, typename ...Args>
-    static inline const T &Set(Args&& ...args) {
-        Backend = util::make_unique<T>(::std::forward<Args>(args)...);
-        return *reinterpret_cast<T *>(Backend.get());
-    }
-
 private:
-    static std::unique_ptr<LogBackend> Backend;
+    static void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, const std::string &msg);
+    static void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, const char* format, ...);
+    static void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code);
+    static void record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code, const std::string &msg);
+
+    // This method is the data sink that must be implemented by each platform we
+    // support. It should ideally output the error message in a human readable
+    // format to the developer.
+    static void platformRecord(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code, const std::string &msg);
 };
 
 }
diff --git a/linux/main.cpp b/linux/main.cpp
index 6688905ea..6a2be43d7 100644
--- a/linux/main.cpp
+++ b/linux/main.cpp
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 #include <mbgl/mbgl.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/util/uv.hpp>
+#include <mbgl/platform/log.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/platform/platform.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/platform/default/settings_json.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/platform/default/glfw_view.hpp>
-#include <mbgl/platform/default/log_stderr.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/storage/default_file_source.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/storage/default/sqlite_cache.hpp>
 
@@ -26,8 +26,6 @@ void quit_handler(int) {
 }
 
 int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
-    mbgl::Log::Set<mbgl::StderrLogBackend>();
-
     int fullscreen_flag = 0;
     std::string style;
 
diff --git a/macosx/main.mm b/macosx/main.mm
index f59fbda6a..087544f7c 100644
--- a/macosx/main.mm
+++ b/macosx/main.mm
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
+#include <mbgl/platform/log.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/platform/platform.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/platform/darwin/settings_nsuserdefaults.hpp>
-#include <mbgl/platform/darwin/log_nslog.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/platform/darwin/Reachability.h>
 #include <mbgl/platform/default/glfw_view.hpp>
 #include <mbgl/storage/default_file_source.hpp>
@@ -101,8 +101,6 @@ const std::string &defaultCacheDatabase() {
 }
 
 int main() {
-    mbgl::Log::Set<mbgl::NSLogBackend>();
-
     GLFWView view;
 
     mbgl::SQLiteCache cache(defaultCacheDatabase());
diff --git a/platform/android/log_android.cpp b/platform/android/log_android.cpp
index e1bec3e0c..9de8232ba 100644
--- a/platform/android/log_android.cpp
+++ b/platform/android/log_android.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#include <mbgl/platform/android/log_android.hpp>
+#include <mbgl/platform/log.hpp>
 
 #define __STDC_FORMAT_MACROS // NDK bug workaround: https://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=72349
 #include <cinttypes>
@@ -7,7 +7,9 @@
 
 namespace mbgl {
 
-int AndroidLogBackend::severityToPriority(EventSeverity severity) {
+namespace {
+
+int severityToPriority(EventSeverity severity) {
     switch(severity) {
     case EventSeverity::Debug:
         return ANDROID_LOG_DEBUG;
@@ -26,7 +28,9 @@ int AndroidLogBackend::severityToPriority(EventSeverity severity) {
     }
 }
 
-void AndroidLogBackend::record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code, const std::string &msg) {
+} // namespace
+
+void Log::platformRecord(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code, const std::string &msg) {
     __android_log_print(severityToPriority(severity), EventClass(event).c_str(), "(%" PRId64 ") %s", code, msg.c_str());
 }
 
diff --git a/platform/darwin/log_nslog.mm b/platform/darwin/log_nslog.mm
index edcf41ebb..5d53ed812 100644
--- a/platform/darwin/log_nslog.mm
+++ b/platform/darwin/log_nslog.mm
@@ -1,11 +1,11 @@
-#include <mbgl/platform/darwin/log_nslog.hpp>
+#include <mbgl/platform/log.hpp>
 
 #import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
 
 namespace mbgl {
 
-void NSLogBackend::record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code,
-                          const std::string &msg) {
+void Log::platformRecord(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code,
+                         const std::string &msg) {
     NSString *message =
         [[NSString alloc] initWithBytes:msg.data() length:msg.size() encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
     NSLog(@"[%s] %s: (%lld) %@", EventSeverityClass(severity).c_str(), EventClass(event).c_str(),
diff --git a/platform/default/log_stderr.cpp b/platform/default/log_stderr.cpp
index 891bfd57f..3305176d9 100644
--- a/platform/default/log_stderr.cpp
+++ b/platform/default/log_stderr.cpp
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
-#include <mbgl/platform/default/log_stderr.hpp>
+#include <mbgl/platform/log.hpp>
 
 #include <iostream>
 
 namespace mbgl {
 
-void StderrLogBackend::record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code, const std::string &msg) {
+void Log::platformRecord(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code, const std::string &msg) {
     std::cerr << "[" << severity << "] " << event << ": (" << code << ") " << msg << std::endl;
 }
 
diff --git a/platform/ios/MGLMapView.mm b/platform/ios/MGLMapView.mm
index 1ab1afcbb..f60d3a05f 100644
--- a/platform/ios/MGLMapView.mm
+++ b/platform/ios/MGLMapView.mm
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #import "MGLMapView.h"
 
-#import <mbgl/platform/darwin/log_nslog.hpp>
+#import <mbgl/platform/log.hpp>
 #import <mbgl/platform/gl.hpp>
 
 #import <GLKit/GLKit.h>
@@ -181,10 +181,6 @@ mbgl::DefaultFileSource *mbglFileSource = nullptr;
 
 - (BOOL)commonInit
 {
-    // set logging backend
-    //
-    mbgl::Log::Set<mbgl::NSLogBackend>();
-
     // create context
     //
     _context = [[EAGLContext alloc] initWithAPI:kEAGLRenderingAPIOpenGLES2];
diff --git a/src/mbgl/platform/log.cpp b/src/mbgl/platform/log.cpp
index 71463dc2f..4bbff8da5 100644
--- a/src/mbgl/platform/log.cpp
+++ b/src/mbgl/platform/log.cpp
@@ -4,13 +4,11 @@
 
 namespace mbgl {
 
-std::unique_ptr<LogBackend> Log::Backend;
-
-void LogBackend::record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, const std::string &msg) {
+void Log::record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, const std::string &msg) {
     record(severity, event, -1, msg);
 }
 
-void LogBackend::record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, const char* format, ...) {
+void Log::record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, const char* format, ...) {
     va_list args;
     va_start(args, format);
     char msg[4096];
@@ -20,8 +18,12 @@ void LogBackend::record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, const char* format,
     record(severity, event, -1, msg);
 }
 
-void LogBackend::record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code) {
+void Log::record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code) {
     record(severity, event, code, std::string());
 }
 
+void Log::record(EventSeverity severity, Event event, int64_t code, const std::string &msg) {
+    platformRecord(severity, event, code, msg);
+}
+
 }