diff --git a/ddclient.in b/ddclient.in
index 71befaf..cc637a5 100755
--- a/ddclient.in
+++ b/ddclient.in
@@ -2352,41 +2352,49 @@ sub ynu {
 
     sub new {
         my ($class, $ctx, $parent) = @_;
+        $ctx = [$ctx // ()] if ref($ctx) eq '';
         return bless({ctx => $ctx, parent => $parent, _in_logger => 0}, $class);
     }
 
-    sub _ctxs {
-        my ($self) = @_;
-        return ($self->{parent} ? $self->{parent}->_ctxs() : (),
-                defined($self->{ctx}) ? ($self->{ctx}) : ());
-    }
-
+    # Takes the following keyword arguments:
+    #   * `msg` (string): The message to log.
+    #   * `label` (string): Severity ('DEBUG', 'WARNING', etc.) to prefix each line with.
+    #   * `email` (boolean): Whether to include the message in the next email.
+    #   * `raw` (boolean): Whether to omit `label` and the contexts (output `msg` as-is).
+    #   * `ctx` (optional string or arrayref of strings): Context or contexts to temporarily push
+    #     onto the context stack (for this call only).
+    #
+    # The keyword arguments may optionally be followed by a single positional argument, which
+    # becomes the value for the `msg` keyword argument if the `msg` keyword argument is not
+    # provided (it is ignored if the `msg` keyword is present).
     sub log {
         my $self = shift;
-        my %args = (
-            msg => '',
-            label => '',
-            fh => *STDERR,
-            email => 0,  # If truthy, the message is also included in the next email.
-            raw => 0,  # If truthy, label and contexts are not included.
-            ctx => undef,  # If defined, temporarily push this onto the context stack.
-            (@_ % 2) ? (msg => pop) : (),
-            @_,
-        );
-        my $buffer = $args{msg};
+        my %args = (@_ % 2 ? (msg => pop) : (), @_);
+        $args{ctx} = [$args{ctx} // ()] if ref($args{ctx}) eq '';
+        return $self->_log(\%args);
+    }
+
+    sub _log {
+        my ($self, $args) = @_;
+        # A new arrayref is created instead of unshifting into @{$args->{ctx}} to avoid mutating
+        # the caller's arrayref (in case it is reused in a future call).
+        $args->{ctx} = [@{$self->{ctx}}, @{$args->{ctx}}];
+        return $self->{parent}->_log($args) if defined($self->{parent});
+        my $buffer = $args->{msg} // '';
         chomp($buffer);
-        if (!$args{raw}) {
-            my $prefix = $args{label} ? sprintf("%-8s ", $args{label} . ':') : '';
-            $prefix .= join('', map("[$_]", $self->_ctxs(), $args{ctx} // ()));
+        if (!$args->{raw}) {
+            $args->{label} //= '';
+            my $prefix = $args->{label} ne '' ? sprintf("%-8s ", $args->{label} . ':') : '';
+            $prefix .= "[$_]" for @{$args->{ctx}};
             $prefix .= '> ' if $prefix;
             $buffer = "$prefix$buffer";
             $prefix =~ s/> $/  /;
             $buffer =~ s/\n/\n$prefix/g;
         }
         $buffer .= "\n";
-        print({$args{fh}} $buffer);
+        print(STDERR $buffer);
 
-        if ($args{email}) {
+        if ($args->{email}) {
             $emailbody .= $buffer;
             if (!$self->{_in_logger}) {
                 ++$self->{_in_logger};  # Avoid infinite recursion if logger itself logs.
diff --git a/t/logmsg.pl b/t/logmsg.pl
index ede234a..6db4b2e 100644
--- a/t/logmsg.pl
+++ b/t/logmsg.pl
@@ -2,23 +2,6 @@ use Test::More;
 SKIP: { eval { require Test::Warnings; } or skip($@, 1); }
 eval { require 'ddclient'; } or BAIL_OUT($@);
 
-{
-    my $output;
-    open(my $fh, '>', \$output);
-    local *STDERR = $fh;
-    ddclient::logmsg('to STDERR');
-    close($fh);
-    is($output, "to STDERR\n", 'logs to STDERR by default');
-}
-
-{
-    my $output;
-    open(my $fh, '>', \$output);
-    ddclient::logmsg(fh => $fh, 'to file handle');
-    close($fh);
-    is($output, "to file handle\n", 'logs to provided file handle');
-}
-
 my @test_cases = (
     {
         desc => 'adds a newline',
@@ -100,12 +83,31 @@ my @test_cases = (
                  "LBL:     [context one][context two]  bar\n"),
     },
     {
-        desc => 'ctx arg',
+        desc => 'string ctx arg',
         args => [label => 'LBL', ctx => 'three', "foo\nbar"],
         ctxs => ['one', 'two'],
         want => ("LBL:     [one][two][three]> foo\n" .
                  "LBL:     [one][two][three]  bar\n"),
     },
+    {
+        desc => 'arrayref ctx arg',
+        args => [label => 'LBL', ctx => ['three', 'four'], "foo\nbar"],
+        ctxs => ['one', 'two'],
+        want => ("LBL:     [one][two][three][four]> foo\n" .
+                 "LBL:     [one][two][three][four]  bar\n"),
+    },
+    {
+        desc => 'undef ctx',
+        args => [label => 'LBL', "foo"],
+        ctxs => ['one', undef],
+        want => "LBL:     [one]> foo\n",
+    },
+    {
+        desc => 'arrayref ctx',
+        args => [label => 'LBL', "foo"],
+        ctxs => ['one', ['two', 'three']],
+        want => "LBL:     [one][two][three]> foo\n",
+    },
 );
 
 for my $tc (@test_cases) {
@@ -113,10 +115,13 @@ for my $tc (@test_cases) {
         $tc->{wantemail} //= '';
         my $output;
         open(my $fh, '>', \$output);
-        $ddclient::emailbody = $tc->{init_email} // '';
+        local $ddclient::emailbody = $tc->{init_email} // '';
         local $ddclient::_l = $ddclient::_l;
         $ddclient::_l = ddclient::pushlogctx($_) for @{$tc->{ctxs} // []};
-        ddclient::logmsg(fh => $fh, @{$tc->{args}});
+        {
+            local *STDERR = $fh;
+            ddclient::logmsg(@{$tc->{args}});
+        }
         close($fh);
         is($output, $tc->{want}, 'output text matches');
         is($ddclient::emailbody, $tc->{want_email} // '', 'email content matches');
@@ -149,10 +154,12 @@ my @logfmt_test_cases = (
 for my $tc (@logfmt_test_cases) {
     my $got;
     open(my $fh, '>', \$got);
-    local *STDERR = $fh;
     local $ddclient::globals{debug} = 1;
     %ddclient::globals if 0;
-    ddclient::debug(@{$tc->{args}});
+    {
+        local *STDERR = $fh;
+        ddclient::debug(@{$tc->{args}});
+    }
     close($fh);
     is($got, $tc->{want}, $tc->{desc});
 }