diff --git a/evutil.c b/evutil.c
index e6bf625e..77aef40d 100644
--- a/evutil.c
+++ b/evutil.c
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@
 #if defined WIN32 && !defined(HAVE_GETTIMEOFDAY_H)
 #include <sys/timeb.h>
 #endif
+#include <stdarg.h>
 
 #include "evutil.h"
 #include "log.h"
@@ -214,3 +215,31 @@ evutil_gettimeofday(struct timeval *tv, struct timezone *tz)
 	return 0;
 }
 #endif
+
+int
+evutil_snprintf(char *buf, size_t buflen, const char *format, ...)
+{
+	int r;
+	va_list ap;
+	va_start(ap, format);
+	r = evutil_vsnprintf(buf, buflen, format, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+	return r;
+}
+
+int
+evutil_vsnprintf(char *buf, size_t buflen, const char *format, va_list ap)
+{
+#ifdef _MSC_VER
+	int r = _vsnprintf(buf, buflen, format, ap);
+	buf[buflen-1] = '\0';
+	if (r >= 0)
+		return r;
+	else
+		return _vscprintf(format, ap);
+#else
+	int r = vsnprintf(buf, buflen, format, ap);
+	buf[buflen-1] = '\0';
+	return r;
+#endif
+}
diff --git a/evutil.h b/evutil.h
index c80a7135..28a30258 100644
--- a/evutil.h
+++ b/evutil.h
@@ -170,6 +170,13 @@ ev_int64_t evutil_strtoll(const char *s, char **endptr, int base);
 int evutil_gettimeofday(struct timeval *tv, struct timezone *tz);
 #endif
 
+int evutil_snprintf(char *buf, size_t buflen, const char *format, ...)
+#ifdef __GNUC__
+	__attribute__((format(printf, 3, 4)))
+#endif
+	;
+int evutil_vsnprintf(char *buf, size_t buflen, const char *format, va_list ap);
+
 #ifdef __cplusplus
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/log.c b/log.c
index 07783e51..45db8a91 100644
--- a/log.c
+++ b/log.c
@@ -60,42 +60,12 @@
 #include "event.h"
 
 #include "log.h"
+#include "evutil.h"
 
 static void _warn_helper(int severity, int log_errno, const char *fmt,
                          va_list ap);
 static void event_log(int severity, const char *msg);
 
-static int
-event_vsnprintf(char *str, size_t size, const char *format, va_list args)
-{
-	int r;
-	if (size == 0)
-		return -1;
-#ifdef WIN32
-	r = _vsnprintf(str, size, format, args);
-#else
-	r = vsnprintf(str, size, format, args);
-#endif
-	str[size-1] = '\0';
-	if (r < 0 || ((size_t)r) >= size) {
-		/* different platforms behave differently on overflow;
-		 * handle both kinds. */
-		return -1;
-	}
-	return r;
-}
-
-static int
-event_snprintf(char *str, size_t size, const char *format, ...)
-{
-    va_list ap;
-    int r;
-    va_start(ap, format);
-    r = event_vsnprintf(str, size, format, ap);
-    va_end(ap);
-    return r;
-}
-
 void
 event_err(int eval, const char *fmt, ...)
 {
@@ -172,7 +142,7 @@ _warn_helper(int severity, int log_errno, const char *fmt, va_list ap)
 	if (log_errno >= 0) {
 		len = strlen(buf);
 		if (len < sizeof(buf) - 3) {
-			event_snprintf(buf + len, sizeof(buf) - len, ": %s",
+			evutil_snprintf(buf + len, sizeof(buf) - len, ": %s",
 			    strerror(log_errno));
 		}
 	}