diff --git a/include/functions.inc.php b/include/functions.inc.php
index a0caf9fb..fca30d69 100644
--- a/include/functions.inc.php
+++ b/include/functions.inc.php
@@ -1205,5 +1205,23 @@ function serendipity_db_time() {
     return $ts;
 }
 
+/* Inits the logger.
+ * @return null
+ */
+function serendipity_initLog() {
+    global $serendipity;
+
+    if (isset($serendipity['logLevel']) && $serendipity['logLevel'] !== 'Off') {
+	if ($serendipity['logLevel'] == 'debug') {
+	    $log_level = Psr\Log\LogLevel::DEBUG;
+	} else {
+	    $log_level = Psr\Log\LogLevel::ERROR;
+	}
+
+	$serendipity['logger'] = new Katzgrau\KLogger\Logger($serendipity['serendipityPath'] . '/templates_c/logs', $log_level);
+    }
+}
+                                                                     
+
 define("serendipity_FUNCTIONS_LOADED", true);
 /* vim: set sts=4 ts=4 expandtab : */
diff --git a/serendipity_config.inc.php b/serendipity_config.inc.php
index 7c7a4ffd..0c1ee36a 100644
--- a/serendipity_config.inc.php
+++ b/serendipity_config.inc.php
@@ -184,6 +184,13 @@ $serendipity['charsets'] = array(
 @define('VIEWMODE_THREADED', 'threaded');
 @define('VIEWMODE_LINEAR', 'linear');
 
+if (!version_compare(phpversion(), '5.3', '>=')) {
+    $serendipity['lang'] = 'en';
+    include(S9Y_INCLUDE_PATH . 'include/lang.inc.php');
+    serendipity_die(sprintf(SERENDIPITY_PHPVERSION_FAIL, phpversion(), '5.3'));
+}
+
+
 /*
  *   Kill the script if we are not installed, and not inside the installer
  */
@@ -310,15 +317,7 @@ if (defined('USE_MEMSNAP')) {
 serendipity_load_configuration();
 $serendipity['lang'] = serendipity_getSessionLanguage();
 
-if (isset($serendipity['logLevel']) && $serendipity['logLevel'] !== 'Off') {
-    if ($serendipity['logLevel'] == 'debug') {
-        $log_level = Psr\Log\LogLevel::DEBUG;
-    } else {
-        $log_level = Psr\Log\LogLevel::ERROR;
-    }
-
-    $serendipity['logger'] = new Katzgrau\KLogger\Logger($serendipity['serendipityPath'] . '/templates_c/logs', $log_level);
-}
+serendipity_initLog();
 
 if ( (isset($serendipity['autodetect_baseURL']) && serendipity_db_bool($serendipity['autodetect_baseURL'])) ||
      (isset($serendipity['embed']) && serendipity_db_bool($serendipity['embed'])) ) {