diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index c74239d5..c3f6925e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1595,6 +1595,7 @@ version = "25.7.1"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "cc",
+ "chrono",
  "etcetera",
  "globset",
  "helix-stdx",
diff --git a/helix-loader/Cargo.toml b/helix-loader/Cargo.toml
index 7a16de4d..a0653a86 100644
--- a/helix-loader/Cargo.toml
+++ b/helix-loader/Cargo.toml
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ parking_lot.workspace = true
 sha2 = "0.11"
 globset.workspace = true
 log = "0.4"
+chrono = { version = "0.4", default-features = false, features = ["clock"] }
 
 # TODO: these two should be on !wasm32 only
 
diff --git a/helix-loader/src/lib.rs b/helix-loader/src/lib.rs
index 47699196..043feadd 100644
--- a/helix-loader/src/lib.rs
+++ b/helix-loader/src/lib.rs
@@ -161,7 +161,9 @@ pub fn lang_config_file() -> PathBuf {
 }
 
 pub fn default_log_file() -> PathBuf {
-    cache_dir().join("helix.log")
+    let now = chrono::Local::now().format("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S");
+
+    cache_dir().join(format!("helix-{now}.log"))
 }
 
 /// Merge two TOML documents, merging values from `right` onto `left`