diff --git a/project.clj b/project.clj
index 256c7f1d805956ed93db7896a5f68582b08d6be6..69995857cf3c2f8aeae7c06c6989956d9ed1f22b 100644
--- a/project.clj
+++ b/project.clj
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-(defproject python/lein-template "0.17.2"
+(defproject python/lein-template "0.17.3"
   :description "lein template for a python project"
   :repositories [["snapshots"
                   {:url "http://devserv.game.yy.com/nexus/content/repositories/snapshots"
diff --git a/src/leiningen/new/python/Makefile b/src/leiningen/new/python/Makefile
index 97e79295da911e5b1bc812b6b58122355afeb597..531d8be05d5e418fe7a94dfceb4411656ebc4f66 100644
--- a/src/leiningen/new/python/Makefile
+++ b/src/leiningen/new/python/Makefile
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ logdir:
 	fi
 bootstrap: venv requirements
 bootstrap-dev: REQUIREMENTS += $(DEV_REQUIREMENTS)
-bootstrap-dev: venv requirements logdir
+bootstrap-dev: venv requirements
 install: bootstrap
 	$(PYTHON) setup.py -q install
 uninstall: bootstrap
diff --git a/src/leiningen/new/python/configlogger.py b/src/leiningen/new/python/configlogger.py
index adfbd3bd0f3d22489198e0cc6c80235d86cc0610..8587bbc7c4dff51eb2fc96cf7ac4ed30d6f0559a 100644
--- a/src/leiningen/new/python/configlogger.py
+++ b/src/leiningen/new/python/configlogger.py
@@ -8,11 +8,47 @@ config logger
 from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function,
                         unicode_literals, with_statement)
 
+import os.path
 import logging
 
 from logging.config import fileConfig
 from pkg_resources import resource_filename
 
 
+def load_logger_config():
+    """if /var/log/{{name}} exist, load default logger.conf.
+
+    otherwise, try to create it directly.
+    if that fails, try to create it with sudo.
+    if that fails, use basic logger config.
+
+    """
+    logdir = "/var/log/{{name}}/"
+    if os.path.exists(logdir):
+        fileConfig(resource_filename("{{name}}", "logger.conf"))
+        return
+
+    try:
+        os.makedirs(logdir)
+        fileConfig(resource_filename("{{name}}", "logger.conf"))
+        return
+    except OSError as _:
+        pass
+
+    import subprocess
+    exit_code = subprocess.call(["sudo", "mkdir", "-p", logdir])
+    if exit_code == 0:
+        fileConfig(resource_filename("{{name}}", "logger.conf"))
+        return
+
+    TESTING = os.getenv("PYTEST") == "1"
+    level = logging.DEBUG if TESTING else logging.INFO
+    logging.basicConfig(
+        format='%(asctime)s [%(module)s] %(levelname)-8s %(message)s',
+        level=level)
+    logging.info("Create log dir %s failed. Using basic config, level=%s",
+                 logdir, "DEBUG" if TESTING else "INFO")
+
+
 logging.captureWarnings(True)
-fileConfig(resource_filename("{{name}}", "logger.conf"))
+load_logger_config()