diff --git a/core/relinker/elfpatcher/src/windows/WindowsEntryStubBuilder.cpp b/core/relinker/elfpatcher/src/windows/WindowsEntryStubBuilder.cpp
index 83281042f..7512f50c3 100644
--- a/core/relinker/elfpatcher/src/windows/WindowsEntryStubBuilder.cpp
+++ b/core/relinker/elfpatcher/src/windows/WindowsEntryStubBuilder.cpp
@@ -100,6 +100,9 @@ WindowsEntryStub WindowsEntryStubBuilder::Build(const std::uint32_t dataRva, con
     const auto argumentCount = reserve(4);
     const auto wideArguments = reserve(8);
     const auto shellHandle = reserve(8);
+    const auto logHandle = reserve(8);
+    const std::u16string logFileName = u"anyps5.log";
+    const auto logName = addWideString(logFileName);
     const auto shellLibrary = addString("shell32.dll");
     const auto parseArguments = addString("CommandLineToArgvW");
     const auto handles = reserve(libraries.size() * 8);
@@ -325,6 +328,48 @@ WindowsEntryStub WindowsEntryStubBuilder::Build(const std::uint32_t dataRva, con
         code.PatchBranch(converted, code.GetRva());
     };
 
+    const auto logMissingHandle = [&](const std::uint32_t standardHandle) {
+        const auto units = CheckedRva(logFileName.size() + 1);
+        code.Emit({0xb9});
+        code.U32(standardHandle);
+        call("GetStdHandle");
+        code.Emit({0x48, 0x85, 0xc0});
+        const auto missing = code.Branch({0x0f, 0x84});
+        code.Emit({0x48, 0x83, 0xf8, 0xff});
+        const auto present = code.Branch({0x0f, 0x85});
+        code.PatchBranch(missing, code.GetRva());
+        code.Rip({0x48, 0x8b, 0x05}, logHandle);
+        code.Emit({0x48, 0x85, 0xc0});
+        const auto opened = code.Branch({0x0f, 0x85});
+        code.Emit({0x4c, 0x89, 0xe0, 0x48, 0x29, 0xd8, 0x48, 0x05});
+        code.U32(units * 2);
+        code.Emit({0x48, 0x3d});
+        code.U32(PathCapacity * 2);
+        const auto tooLong = code.Branch({0x0f, 0x87});
+        code.Emit({0x4c, 0x89, 0xe7});
+        code.Rip({0x48, 0x8d, 0x35}, logName);
+        code.Emit({0xb9});
+        code.U32(units);
+        code.Emit({0x66, 0xf3, 0xa5});
+        code.Rip({0x48, 0x8d, 0x0d}, modulePath);
+        code.Emit({0xba, 0, 0, 0, 0x40, 0x41, 0xb8, 3, 0, 0, 0, 0x45, 0x31, 0xc9});
+        code.Emit({0x48, 0xc7, 0x44, 0x24, 0x20, 2, 0, 0, 0, 0x48, 0xc7, 0x44, 0x24, 0x28, 0x80, 0, 0, 0, 0x48, 0xc7, 0x44, 0x24, 0x30, 0, 0, 0, 0});
+        call("CreateFileW");
+        code.Emit({0x66, 0x41, 0xc7, 0x04, 0x24, 0x00, 0x00});
+        code.Emit({0x48, 0x83, 0xf8, 0xff});
+        const auto failed = code.Branch({0x0f, 0x84});
+        code.Rip({0x48, 0x89, 0x05}, logHandle);
+        code.PatchBranch(opened, code.GetRva());
+        code.Emit({0xb9});
+        code.U32(standardHandle);
+        code.Emit({0x48, 0x89, 0xc2});
+        call("SetStdHandle");
+        const auto done = code.GetRva();
+        code.PatchBranch(present, done);
+        code.PatchBranch(tooLong, done);
+        code.PatchBranch(failed, done);
+    };
+
     code.Emit({0x53, 0x55, 0x56, 0x57, 0x41, 0x54, 0x48, 0x83, 0xec, 0x60});
     code.Emit({0x31, 0xc9});
     code.Rip({0x48, 0x8d, 0x15}, programPath);
@@ -351,6 +396,8 @@ WindowsEntryStub WindowsEntryStubBuilder::Build(const std::uint32_t dataRva, con
     code.Rip({0x0f, 0x85}, findSeparator);
     code.Emit({0x49, 0x83, 0xc4, 0x02});
     code.Emit({0x66, 0x41, 0xc7, 0x04, 0x24, 0x00, 0x00});
+    logMissingHandle(0xfffffff5u);
+    logMissingHandle(0xfffffff4u);
     code.Rip({0x48, 0x8d, 0x0d}, modulePath);
     call("SetCurrentDirectoryW");
     requireNonzero(directoryError, 0xc000000du);
diff --git a/core/relinker/elfpatcher/src/windows/WindowsImportBuilder.cpp b/core/relinker/elfpatcher/src/windows/WindowsImportBuilder.cpp
index 30cb39ecd..71ce4f2ba 100644
--- a/core/relinker/elfpatcher/src/windows/WindowsImportBuilder.cpp
+++ b/core/relinker/elfpatcher/src/windows/WindowsImportBuilder.cpp
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 namespace Elfpatcher::Windows {
 
 WindowsImports WindowsImportBuilder::Build(const std::uint32_t sectionRva) const {
-    const std::vector<std::string> names = {"ExitProcess", "FormatMessageA", "FreeLibrary", "GetCommandLineW", "GetFileAttributesW", "GetLastError", "GetModuleFileNameW", "GetModuleHandleA", "GetModuleHandleW", "GetProcAddress", "GetStdHandle", "GetSystemDirectoryW", "LoadLibraryExA", "LoadLibraryExW", "LocalFree", "MultiByteToWideChar", "RaiseException", "SetCurrentDirectoryW", "VirtualAlloc", "WideCharToMultiByte", "WriteFile", "lstrcatA", "lstrcmpA", "lstrcmpiA", "lstrcpyA", "lstrlenA"};
+    const std::vector<std::string> names = {"CreateFileW", "ExitProcess", "FormatMessageA", "FreeLibrary", "GetCommandLineW", "GetFileAttributesW", "GetLastError", "GetModuleFileNameW", "GetModuleHandleA", "GetModuleHandleW", "GetProcAddress", "GetStdHandle", "GetSystemDirectoryW", "LoadLibraryExA", "LoadLibraryExW", "LocalFree", "MultiByteToWideChar", "RaiseException", "SetCurrentDirectoryW", "SetStdHandle", "VirtualAlloc", "WideCharToMultiByte", "WriteFile", "lstrcatA", "lstrcmpA", "lstrcmpiA", "lstrcpyA", "lstrlenA"};
     WindowsImports result{{".idata", sectionRva, SectionRead | SectionWrite | 0x40u, std::vector<std::uint8_t>(40)}, {sectionRva, 40}, {}, {}};
     auto& bytes = result.Section.Data;
     const auto lookupOffset = bytes.size();
diff --git a/core/relinker/relinker/tests/test_windows_import_modules.py b/core/relinker/relinker/tests/test_windows_import_modules.py
index 5a03c9fa0..8aef4fdec 100644
--- a/core/relinker/relinker/tests/test_windows_import_modules.py
+++ b/core/relinker/relinker/tests/test_windows_import_modules.py
@@ -384,19 +384,22 @@ def main():
         assert not output.exists()
 
         if os.name == 'nt':
-            for name, owner, symbol, expected in [
-                    ('missing-symbol-gui', 'a.prx', 'absent#A#B', 0xc0000139),
-                    ('missing-dependency-gui', 'missing.prx', 'shared#A#B', 0xc0000135)]:
+            for name, owner, symbol, expected, message in [
+                    ('missing-symbol-gui', 'a.prx', 'absent#A#B', 0xc0000139, 'unresolved ELF import absent'),
+                    ('missing-dependency-gui', 'missing.prx', 'shared#A#B', 0xc0000135, 'Failed to load module')]:
                 result, output = convert(name, owner, symbol, windows_gui=True)
                 assert result.returncode == 0, result.stderr
                 run_status = exit_code_without_standard_handles(output)
                 assert run_status == expected, (name, hex(run_status), hex(expected))
+                log = output.parent / 'anyps5.log'
+                assert log.is_file() and message in log.read_text(errors='replace'), (name, log.exists())
 
         result, output = convert('missing-symbol', 'a.prx', 'absent#A#B')
         assert result.returncode == 0, result.stderr
         if os.name == 'nt':
             run = subprocess.run([str(output)], capture_output=True, text=True, timeout=30)
             assert run.returncode != 0 and 'unresolved ELF import absent' in run.stderr, (run.returncode, run.stderr)
+            assert not (output.parent / 'anyps5.log').exists()
         result, output = convert('wrong-provider', 'c.prx')
         assert result.returncode == 0, result.stderr
         if os.name == 'nt':
diff --git a/docs/user/USAGE.md b/docs/user/USAGE.md
index 12accb979..2f6b5d8d0 100644
--- a/docs/user/USAGE.md
+++ b/docs/user/USAGE.md
@@ -119,6 +119,8 @@ python3 tools/pad_input.py /tmp/anyps5-pad release
 
 Run the helper in a second terminal. Commands are polled at most every 100 ms during controller reads and add to physical controller input. A press lasts 300 ms by default, starting when the application reads it, and releases automatically; `--hold-ms` accepts 1–5000 ms. Wait for the application to observe a release before sending another press. The file holds only the latest command; rapid commands can replace one another. Commands left over when the application first reads the controller are ignored. Without the environment variable, file input is disabled.
 
+A Windows executable started without a standard output or error handle, such as a `--windows-gui` build started from Explorer, writes that output to `anyps5.log` beside it, replacing the previous run's file. Without write access to that directory it runs without the log.
+
 ### System fonts
 
 Games that open the console's system font sets (`sceFontOpenFontSet`) need font files in an `anyps5-fonts/` directory beside the output executable; set `ANYPS5_SYSTEM_FONTS` to use another directory. Files dumped from the console are used under their own names (`SST-Roman.otf`, `SST-Bold.otf`, `SSTJpPro-Regular.otf`, ...). Without them, these openly licensed substitutes are used when present: `NotoSans-{Light,Regular,Medium,Bold}.ttf` and `NotoSans-{LightItalic,Italic,MediumItalic,BoldItalic}.ttf` (Latin and Vietnamese), `NotoSansMono-{Light,Regular,Medium,Bold}.ttf` (typewriter), `NotoSansThai-{Light,Regular,Medium,Bold}.ttf` (Thai) and `NotoSansCJK-{Light,Regular,Medium,Bold}.ttc` (Japanese and Chinese). Without either, opening a system font set fails and the game shows no text in those fonts.