diff --git a/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c b/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
index 6e29609ff6d..99248f57579 100644
--- a/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
+++ b/src/backend/postmaster/postmaster.c
@@ -790,7 +790,7 @@ PostmasterMain(int argc, char *argv[])
 		const char *config_val = GetConfigOption(output_config_variable,
 												 false, false);
 
-		puts(config_val ? config_val : "(null)");
+		puts(config_val ? config_val : "");
 		ExitPostmaster(0);
 	}