diff --git a/src/common/cfgfiles.c b/src/common/cfgfiles.c
index 4485b426..8c074b4b 100644
--- a/src/common/cfgfiles.c
+++ b/src/common/cfgfiles.c
@@ -746,11 +746,12 @@ load_config (void)
 	prefs.url_grabber = 1;
 	prefs.url_grabber_limit = 100; /* 0 means unlimited */
 	prefs.text_search_follow = 1;
+	prefs.timestamp = 1;
 #ifdef WIN32
 	prefs.identd = 1;
 #endif
 	strcpy (prefs.spell_langs, g_getenv ("LC_ALL") ? g_getenv ("LC_ALL") : "en_US");
-	strcpy (prefs.stamp_format, "[%H:%M] ");
+	strcpy (prefs.stamp_format, "[%H:%M:%S] ");
 	strcpy (prefs.timestamp_log_format, "%b %d %H:%M:%S ");
 	strcpy (prefs.logmask, "%n-%c.log");
 	strcpy (prefs.nick_suffix, ",");
diff --git a/src/common/text.c b/src/common/text.c
index 0e8cbc3a..29efab98 100644
--- a/src/common/text.c
+++ b/src/common/text.c
@@ -744,7 +744,7 @@ get_stamp_str (char *fmt, time_t tim, char **ret)
 	if (!len)
 	{
 		/* use failsafe format until a correct one is specified */
-		len = strftime (dest, sizeof (dest), "[%H:%M]", localtime (&tim));
+		len = strftime (dest, sizeof (dest), "[%H:%M:%S]", localtime (&tim));
 	}
 #endif
 	if (len)