diff --git a/src/boot/me/type.ml b/src/boot/me/type.ml
index b364ff569eb..10045e07a9a 100644
--- a/src/boot/me/type.ml
+++ b/src/boot/me/type.ml
@@ -1192,7 +1192,9 @@ let process_crate (cx:ctxt) (crate:Ast.crate) : unit =
         | Ast.STMT_log atom ->
             begin
               match atom with
-                  Ast.ATOM_lval lv -> set_auto_deref lv true
+                  Ast.ATOM_lval lv ->
+                    unify_lval rval_ctx lv (any());
+                    set_auto_deref lv true
                 | _ -> ()
             end
 
diff --git a/src/test/compile-fail/log-type-error.rs b/src/test/compile-fail/log-type-error.rs
index c8a5df9c325..622a0332d90 100644
--- a/src/test/compile-fail/log-type-error.rs
+++ b/src/test/compile-fail/log-type-error.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// error-pattern: mismatched types
+// error-pattern: unimplemented logging type
 
 fn main() {
   log main;