diff --git a/jetty-util/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/log/Log.java b/jetty-util/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/log/Log.java
index a1130ab6043..95bafcec4d8 100644
--- a/jetty-util/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/log/Log.java
+++ b/jetty-util/src/main/java/org/eclipse/jetty/util/log/Log.java
@@ -80,12 +80,11 @@ public class Log
                 __log.debug("Logging to {} via {}", __log, log_class.getName());
             }
         }
-        catch(NoClassDefFoundError e)
-        {
-            initStandardLogging(e);
-        }
-        catch(Exception e)
+        catch(Throwable e)
         {
+            if (e instanceof ThreadDeath)
+                throw (ThreadDeath)e;
+            
             initStandardLogging(e);
         }