diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 395d59d7..85d2cbad 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -22,6 +22,8 @@ ver. 0.8.12 (2013/12/XX) - things-can-only-get-better
   - smtps not a IANA standard and has been removed from Arch. Replaced with
     465. Thanks Stefan. Closes gh-447
   - mysqld-syslog-iptables rule was too long. Part of gh-447.
+  - add 'flushlogs' command to allow logrotation without clobbering logtarget
+    settings. Closes gh-458, Debian bug #697333, Redhat bug #891798.
 
 - Enhancements:
   - long names on jails documented based on iptables limit of 30 less
diff --git a/client/beautifier.py b/client/beautifier.py
index 8e690656..bc9e89b1 100644
--- a/client/beautifier.py
+++ b/client/beautifier.py
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@ class Beautifier:
 						msg = "Jail stopped"
 			elif inC[0] == "add":
 				msg = "Added jail " + response
+			elif inC[0] == "flushlogs":
+				msg = "logs: " + response
 			elif inC[0:1] == ['status']:
 				if len(inC) > 1:
 					# Create IP list
diff --git a/common/protocol.py b/common/protocol.py
index 9309ce7f..278ccd53 100644
--- a/common/protocol.py
+++ b/common/protocol.py
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ protocol = [
 ["get loglevel", "gets the logging level"], 
 ["set logtarget <TARGET>", "sets logging target to <TARGET>. Can be STDOUT, STDERR, SYSLOG or a file"], 
 ["get logtarget", "gets logging target"], 
+["flushlogs", "flushes the logtarget if a file and reopens it. For log rotation."], 
 ['', "JAIL CONTROL", ""],
 ["add <JAIL> <BACKEND>", "creates <JAIL> using <BACKEND>"], 
 ["start <JAIL>", "starts the jail <JAIL>"], 
diff --git a/files/fail2ban-logrotate b/files/fail2ban-logrotate
index 67c6364a..a09870af 100644
--- a/files/fail2ban-logrotate
+++ b/files/fail2ban-logrotate
@@ -13,6 +13,6 @@
     missingok
     compress
     postrotate
-      /usr/bin/fail2ban-client set logtarget /var/log/fail2ban.log 1>/dev/null || true
+      /usr/bin/fail2ban-client flushlogs  1>/dev/null || true
     endscript
 }
diff --git a/server/server.py b/server/server.py
index 6ac93a54..1358391b 100644
--- a/server/server.py
+++ b/server/server.py
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@ class Server:
 				# Target should be a file
 				try:
 					open(target, "a").close()
-					hdlr = logging.FileHandler(target)
+					hdlr = logging.handlers.RotatingFileHandler(target)
 				except IOError:
 					logSys.error("Unable to log to " + target)
 					logSys.info("Logging to previous target " + self.__logTarget)
@@ -401,6 +401,17 @@ class Server:
 		finally:
 			self.__loggingLock.release()
 	
+	def flushLogs(self):
+		if self.__logTarget not in ['STDERR', 'STDOUT', 'SYSLOG']:
+			for handler in logging.getLogger("fail2ban").handlers:
+				handler.doRollover()
+			return "rolled over"
+		else:
+			for handler in logging.getLogger("fail2ban").handlers:
+				handler.flush()
+			return "flushed"
+			
+
 	def __createDaemon(self): # pragma: no cover
 		""" Detach a process from the controlling terminal and run it in the
 			background as a daemon.
diff --git a/server/transmitter.py b/server/transmitter.py
index deaf9adf..cf65dada 100644
--- a/server/transmitter.py
+++ b/server/transmitter.py
@@ -92,6 +92,8 @@ class Transmitter:
 			value = command[1]
 			time.sleep(int(value))
 			return None
+		elif command[0] == "flushlogs":
+			return self.__server.flushLogs()
 		elif command[0] == "set":
 			return self.__commandSet(command[1:])
 		elif command[0] == "get":
diff --git a/testcases/servertestcase.py b/testcases/servertestcase.py
index c93326a5..e6137d2f 100644
--- a/testcases/servertestcase.py
+++ b/testcases/servertestcase.py
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ __copyright__ = "Copyright (c) 2004 Cyril Jaquier"
 __license__ = "GPL"
 
 import unittest, socket, time, tempfile, os, sys
-from server.server import Server
+from server.server import Server, logSys
 from server.jail import Jail
 from common.exceptions import UnknownJailException
 
@@ -521,6 +521,35 @@ class TransmitterLogging(TransmitterBase):
 		self.setGetTest("loglevel", "0", 0)
 		self.setGetTestNOK("loglevel", "Bird")
 
+	def testFlushLogs(self):
+		self.assertEqual(self.transm.proceed(["flushlogs"]), (0, "rolled over"))
+		try:
+			f, fn = tempfile.mkstemp("fail2ban.log")
+			os.close(f)
+			self.server.setLogLevel(2)
+			self.assertEqual(self.transm.proceed(["set", "logtarget", fn]), (0, fn))
+			logSys.warn("Before file moved")
+			try:
+				f2, fn2 = tempfile.mkstemp("fail2ban.log")
+				os.close(f2)
+				os.rename(fn, fn2)
+				logSys.warn("After file moved")
+				self.assertEqual(self.transm.proceed(["flushlogs"]), (0, "rolled over"))
+				logSys.warn("After flushlogs")
+				with open(fn2,'r') as f:
+					self.assertTrue(f.next().endswith("Before file moved\n"))
+					self.assertTrue(f.next().endswith("After file moved\n"))
+					self.assertRaises(StopIteration, f.next)
+				with open(fn,'r') as f:
+					self.assertTrue(f.next().endswith("After flushlogs\n"))
+					self.assertRaises(StopIteration, f.next)
+			finally:
+				os.remove(fn2)
+		finally:
+			os.remove(fn)
+		self.assertEqual(self.transm.proceed(["set", "logtarget", "STDERR"]), (0, "STDERR"))
+		self.assertEqual(self.transm.proceed(["flushlogs"]), (0, "flushed"))
+
 
 class JailTests(unittest.TestCase):