diff --git a/core/commands/refs.go b/core/commands/refs.go
index 50b39bca0..a3f6c8ab2 100644
--- a/core/commands/refs.go
+++ b/core/commands/refs.go
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ func printRefs(n *core.IpfsNode, nd *mdag.Node, refSeen map[u.Key]bool, recursiv
 		if recursive {
 			nd, err := n.DAG.Get(u.Key(link.Hash))
 			if err != nil {
-				u.PErr("error: cannot retrieve %s (%s)\n", link.Hash.B58String(), err)
+				log.Error("error: cannot retrieve %s (%s)\n", link.Hash.B58String(), err)
 				return
 			}
 
diff --git a/updates/updates.go b/updates/updates.go
index 2ed7ba91d..b8736b478 100644
--- a/updates/updates.go
+++ b/updates/updates.go
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ func init() {
 	var err error
 	currentVersion, err = semver.NewVersion(Version)
 	if err != nil {
-		u.PErr("The const Version literal in version.go needs to be in semver format: %s \n", Version)
+		log.Error("The const Version literal in version.go needs to be in semver format: %s \n", Version)
 		os.Exit(1)
 	}
 }
diff --git a/util/log.go b/util/log.go
index f59e9bbbb..ee5abb320 100644
--- a/util/log.go
+++ b/util/log.go
@@ -17,11 +17,6 @@ var LogFormat = "%{color}%{time:2006-01-02 15:04:05.999999} %{shortfile} %{level
 // loggers is the set of loggers in the system
 var loggers = map[string]*logging.Logger{}
 
-// PErr is a shorthand printing function to output to Stderr.
-func PErr(format string, a ...interface{}) {
-	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, format, a...)
-}
-
 // POut is a shorthand printing function to output to Stdout.
 func POut(format string, a ...interface{}) {
 	fmt.Fprintf(os.Stdout, format, a...)
@@ -39,8 +34,7 @@ func SetupLogging() {
 	if logenv := os.Getenv("IPFS_LOGGING"); logenv != "" {
 		lvl, err = logging.LogLevel(logenv)
 		if err != nil {
-			PErr("invalid logging level: %s\n", logenv)
-			PErr("using logging.DEBUG\n")
+			log.Error("invalid logging level: %s\n", logenv)
 			lvl = logging.DEBUG
 		}
 	}