diff --git a/common.php b/common.php
index 811d175de..04531e9df 100644
--- a/common.php
+++ b/common.php
@@ -253,19 +253,19 @@ function file_write($str, $file, $max_size = LOG_MAX_SIZE, $lock = true, $replac
             rename($file, $new_name);
         }
     }
-
-    if (bb_mkdir(dirname($file))) {
-        if ($fp = fopen($file, 'ab+')) {
-            if ($lock) {
-                flock($fp, LOCK_EX);
-            }
-            if ($replace_content) {
-                ftruncate($fp, 0);
-                fseek($fp, 0, SEEK_SET);
-            }
-            $bytes_written = fwrite($fp, $str);
-            fclose($fp);
+    if (file_exists($file) && $dir_created = bb_mkdir(dirname($file))) {
+        $fp = fopen($file, 'ab+');
+    }
+    if (isset($fp)) {
+        if ($lock) {
+            flock($fp, LOCK_EX);
         }
+        if ($replace_content) {
+            ftruncate($fp, 0);
+            fseek($fp, 0, SEEK_SET);
+        }
+        $bytes_written = fwrite($fp, $str);
+        fclose($fp);
     }
 
     return $bytes_written;