diff --git a/hsmd/libhsmd_status.c b/hsmd/libhsmd_status.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..41ac3295a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hsmd/libhsmd_status.c
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+/* When running as a subdaemon controlled by lightningd the hsmd will
+ * report logging, debugging information and crash reports to
+ * lightningd via the status socket, using the wire protocol used in
+ * LN more generally. This is done so lightningd can print add the
+ * messages to its own logs, presenting a unified view of what is
+ * happening.
+ *
+ * When using libhsmd not as a subdaemon controlled by lightningd we
+ * cannot make use of the communication primitives we used in that
+ * context. For this reason libhsmd defers the selection of actual
+ * primitives to link time, and here we provide simple ones that just
+ * print to stdout, as alternatives to the status wire protocol ones.
+ */
+#include <hsmd/libhsmd.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+u8 *hsmd_status_bad_request(struct hsmd_client *client, const u8 *msg, const char *error)
+{
+	fprintf(stderr, "%s\n", error);
+	return NULL;
+}
+
+void hsmd_status_fmt(enum log_level level, const struct node_id *peer,
+		     const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+	va_list ap;
+	char *msg;
+	FILE *stream = level >= LOG_UNUSUAL ? stderr : stdout;
+	va_start(ap, fmt);
+	msg = tal_vfmt(NULL, fmt, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	if (peer != NULL)
+		fprintf(stream, "[%s] %s: %s\n", log_level_name(level),
+			node_id_to_hexstr(msg, peer), msg);
+	else
+		fprintf(stream, "[%s]: %s\n", log_level_name(level), msg);
+
+	tal_free(msg);
+}
+
+void hsmd_status_failed(enum status_failreason reason, const char *fmt, ...)
+{
+	va_list ap;
+
+	va_start(ap, fmt);
+	vfprintf(stderr, fmt, ap);
+	va_end(ap);
+
+	exit(0x80 | (reason & 0xFF));
+}