diff --git a/src/lib/logger.coffee b/src/lib/logger.coffee
index d9bb8788..0b22ffcc 100644
--- a/src/lib/logger.coffee
+++ b/src/lib/logger.coffee
@@ -28,10 +28,10 @@ publish = do ->
 			if _.isString(message)
 				message = { message }
 
-			message.timestamp = Date.now()
-
-			# Stop pubnub logging loads of "Missing Message" errors, as they are quite distracting
-			message.message or= ' '
+			_.defaults message,
+				timestamp: Date.now()
+				# Stop pubnub logging loads of "Missing Message" errors, as they are quite distracting
+				message: ' '
 
 			pubnub.publish({ channel, message })