diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 8dcbaa4..75a5956 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"database/sql"
 	"flag"
-	"log"
+	"log/slog"
 	"os"
 	"os/signal"
 	"sync"
@@ -24,16 +24,18 @@ var (
 )
 
 func main() {
+	setupLogging()
+	defer flushLog()
+
 	logInfo("main", "Starting gomeshalerter", map[string]interface{}{
 		"timestamp": runStart.Format("15:04:05"),
 	})
-	setupLogging()
-	defer flushLog()
 
 	var err error
 	db, err = sql.Open("sqlite3", dbPath+"?_journal=WAL") // Use WAL mode for better concurrency
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("Failed to open database: %v", err)
+		slog.Error("Failed to open database", "error", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
 	// Define a cleanup function to properly close resources
@@ -51,7 +53,8 @@ func main() {
 	defer cleanup()
 
 	if err := setupDatabase(); err != nil {
-		log.Fatalf("Failed to setup database: %v", err)
+		slog.Error("Failed to setup database", "error", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 
 	ollamaModel := "qwen3:32b"
diff --git a/storage.go b/storage.go
index f03a9c3..9706ac5 100644
--- a/storage.go
+++ b/storage.go
@@ -397,6 +397,12 @@ func logEvent(event string, details map[string]interface{}) {
 	// Add to the permanent log data (for file-based logging)
 	logData = append(logData, entry)
 
+	// Only try to store in database if the database is initialized
+	if db == nil {
+		slog.Debug("Skipping database log storage - database not yet initialized")
+		return
+	}
+
 	// Store log in database
 	logBytes, err := json.Marshal(entry)
 	if err != nil {