diff --git a/src/main.c b/src/main.c
index dba7bc7..a2b700d 100644
--- a/src/main.c
+++ b/src/main.c
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 static struct {
     long timeout;
     int mptcp;
+    int state_fd;
 } gt;
 
 struct fdbuf {
@@ -995,7 +996,7 @@ static int gt_setup_secretkey (struct crypto_ctx *ctx, char *keyfile)
 
         randombytes_buf(ctx->skey, size);
         gt_tohex(buf, sizeof(buf), ctx->skey, size);
-        state("SECRETKEY", buf);
+        state_send(gt.state_fd, "SECRETKEY", buf);
 
         return 0;
     }
@@ -1242,7 +1243,9 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
     if (!ai)
         return 1;
 
-    if (state_init(statefile))
+    gt.state_fd = state_create(statefile);
+
+    if (statefile && gt.state_fd==-1)
         return 1;
 
     struct fdbuf tun  = { .fd = -1 };
@@ -1282,7 +1285,7 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
     long retry = 0;
     uint8_t *db = NULL;
 
-    state("INITIALIZED", tun_name);
+    state_send(gt.state_fd, "INITIALIZED", tun_name);
 
     while (!gt_close) {
         if (retry_count>=0 && retry>=retry_count+1) {
@@ -1350,7 +1353,7 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 
         retry = 0;
 
-        state("STARTED", sockname);
+        state_send(gt.state_fd, "STARTED", tun_name);
 
         fd_set rfds;
         FD_ZERO(&rfds);
@@ -1523,7 +1526,7 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
             sock.fd = -1;
         }
 
-        state("STOPPED", sockname);
+        state_send(gt.state_fd, "STOPPED", tun_name);
 
         if (sockname) {
             free(sockname);
diff --git a/src/state.c b/src/state.c
index 0a74d69..347f59b 100644
--- a/src/state.c
+++ b/src/state.c
@@ -7,16 +7,14 @@
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
 
-static int state_fd = -1;
-
-int state_init (const char *filename)
+int state_create (const char *filename)
 {
     if (str_empty(filename))
-        return 0;
+        return -1;
 
-    state_fd = open(filename, O_WRONLY);
+    int fd = open(filename, O_WRONLY);
 
-    if (state_fd==-1) {
+    if (fd==-1) {
         if (errno!=EINTR)
             perror("open");
         return -1;
@@ -24,38 +22,41 @@ int state_init (const char *filename)
 
     struct stat st = {0};
 
-    if (fstat(state_fd, &st)==-1) {
+    if (fstat(fd, &st)==-1) {
         perror("fstat");
-        close(state_fd);
-        state_fd = -1;
+        close(fd);
         return -1;
     }
 
     if (!S_ISFIFO(st.st_mode)) {
         gt_log("`%s' is not a fifo\n", filename);
-        close(state_fd);
-        state_fd = -1;
+        close(fd);
         return -1;
     }
 
-    return 0;
+    return fd;
 }
 
-void state (const char *state, const char *info)
+void state_send (int fd, const char *state, const char *info)
 {
     if (str_empty(state))
         return;
 
+    if (fd==-1) {
+        gt_print("%s %s\n", state, info);
+        return;
+    }
+
     const char *strs[] = { state, " ", info, "\n" };
     char *str = str_cat(strs, COUNT(strs));
 
-    if (!str)
+    if (!str) {
+        perror("str_cat");
         return;
-
-    if (state_fd==-1) {
-        gt_print("%s", str);
-    } else {
-        if (write(state_fd, str, str_len(str))==-1 && errno!=EINTR)
-            perror("write");
     }
+
+    if (write(fd, str, str_len(str))==-1 && errno!=EINTR)
+        perror("write");
+
+    free(str);
 }
diff --git a/src/state.h b/src/state.h
index a5f2583..dd014ca 100644
--- a/src/state.h
+++ b/src/state.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
 #pragma once
 
-int  state_init (const char *);
-void state      (const char *, const char *);
+int  state_create (const char *);
+void state_send   (int, const char *, const char *);