diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/Logging/Viewer/LogViewerSourceBase.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/Logging/Viewer/LogViewerSourceBase.cs
index 59994a64a6..5ac6353dfb 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/Logging/Viewer/LogViewerSourceBase.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/Logging/Viewer/LogViewerSourceBase.cs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Logging.Viewer
             //Our default implementation
 
             //If file does not exist - lets create it with an empty array
-            IOHelper.EnsureFileExists(_searchesConfigPath, "[]");
+            EnsureFileExists(_searchesConfigPath, "[]");
 
             var rawJson = System.IO.File.ReadAllText(_searchesConfigPath);
             return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<IEnumerable<SavedLogSearch>>(rawJson);
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Logging.Viewer
             var rawJson = JsonConvert.SerializeObject(searches, Formatting.Indented);
 
             //If file does not exist - lets create it with an empty array
-            IOHelper.EnsureFileExists(_searchesConfigPath, "[]");
+            EnsureFileExists(_searchesConfigPath, "[]");
 
             //Write it back down to file
             System.IO.File.WriteAllText(_searchesConfigPath, rawJson);
@@ -163,6 +163,15 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core.Logging.Viewer
             };
         }
 
-        
+        private void EnsureFileExists(string path, string contents)
+        {
+            var absolutePath = IOHelper.MapPath(path);
+            if (System.IO.File.Exists(absolutePath)) return;
+
+            using (var writer = System.IO.File.CreateText(absolutePath))
+            {
+                writer.Write(contents);
+            }
+        }
     }
 }