diff --git a/daemon/server.py b/daemon/server.py
index 667a2fe..1f285ea 100644
--- a/daemon/server.py
+++ b/daemon/server.py
@@ -153,8 +153,13 @@ def serve_in_thread(port: int | None = None) -> threading.Thread:
     import uvicorn
 
     p = port or cfgmod.DEFAULT_PORT
+    # log_config=None disables uvicorn's default dictConfig. In the frozen,
+    # windowed exe there is no console, so sys.stderr is None and uvicorn's
+    # default logging setup dies with "Unable to configure formatter 'default'",
+    # taking the whole control-panel server down. We don't need uvicorn's logs
+    # (the daemon has its own file logger), so skip its logging config entirely.
     server = uvicorn.Server(uvicorn.Config(
-        app, host="127.0.0.1", port=p, log_level="warning"))
+        app, host="127.0.0.1", port=p, log_level="warning", log_config=None))
     t = threading.Thread(target=server.run, daemon=True, name="clawd-http")
     t.start()
     return t