diff --git a/zuul/executor/server.py b/zuul/executor/server.py
index 791652f373..1f069f0f30 100644
--- a/zuul/executor/server.py
+++ b/zuul/executor/server.py
@@ -358,8 +358,10 @@ class JobDir(object):
         # there is a period of time where the user can click on the live log
         # link on the status page but the log streaming fails because the file
         # is not there yet.
-        with open(self.job_output_file, 'w'):
-            pass
+        with open(self.job_output_file, 'w') as job_output:
+            job_output.write("{now} | Job console starting...\n".format(
+                now=datetime.datetime.now()
+            ))
         self.trusted_projects = []
         self.trusted_project_index = {}