diff --git a/src/libutil/logging.cc b/src/libutil/logging.cc
index c7b859bd5..de8df24b0 100644
--- a/src/libutil/logging.cc
+++ b/src/libutil/logging.cc
@@ -196,6 +196,7 @@ struct JSONLogger : Logger {
 
     struct State
     {
+        bool enabled = true;
     };
 
     Sync<State> _state;
@@ -208,8 +209,18 @@ struct JSONLogger : Logger {
 
         /* Acquire a lock to prevent log messages from clobbering each
            other. */
-        auto state(_state.lock());
-        writeLine(fd, line);
+        try {
+            auto state(_state.lock());
+            if (state->enabled)
+                writeLine(fd, line);
+        } catch (...) {
+            bool enabled = false;
+            std::swap(_state.lock()->enabled, enabled);
+            if (enabled) {
+                ignoreExceptionExceptInterrupt();
+                logger->warn("disabling JSON logger due to write errors");
+            }
+        }
     }
 
     void log(Verbosity lvl, std::string_view s) override
diff --git a/src/nix/main.cc b/src/nix/main.cc
index 68137a216..644c65cf0 100644
--- a/src/nix/main.cc
+++ b/src/nix/main.cc
@@ -502,7 +502,11 @@ void mainWrapped(int argc, char * * argv)
     }
 
     if (!extLoggerSettings.jsonLogPath.get().empty()) {
-        logger = makeTeeLogger({logger, makeJSONLogger(std::filesystem::path(extLoggerSettings.jsonLogPath.get()), false)});
+        try {
+            logger = makeTeeLogger({logger, makeJSONLogger(std::filesystem::path(extLoggerSettings.jsonLogPath.get()), false)});
+        } catch (...) {
+            ignoreExceptionExceptInterrupt();
+        }
     }
 
     if (args.helpRequested) {