diff -ur syslog-ng-3.1.1.orig/src/gprocess.c syslog-ng-3.1.1/src/gprocess.c
--- syslog-ng-3.1.1.orig/src/gprocess.c	2009-12-15 05:00:28.000000000 -0800
+++ syslog-ng-3.1.1/src/gprocess.c	2010-05-08 19:30:12.000000000 -0700
@@ -1134,14 +1134,18 @@
 
 /**
  * g_process_start:
+ * @force_foreground: force process mode to foreground
  *
  * Start the process as directed by the options set by various
  * g_process_set_*() functions.
  **/
 void
-g_process_start(void)
+g_process_start(gboolean force_foreground)
 {
   pid_t pid;
+
+  if (force_foreground)
+    process_opts.mode = G_PM_FOREGROUND;
   
   g_process_detach_tty();
   g_process_change_limits();
diff -ur syslog-ng-3.1.1.orig/src/gprocess.h syslog-ng-3.1.1/src/gprocess.h
--- syslog-ng-3.1.1.orig/src/gprocess.h	2009-11-25 11:47:45.000000000 -0800
+++ syslog-ng-3.1.1/src/gprocess.h	2010-05-08 19:28:55.000000000 -0700
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@
 void g_process_set_use_fdlimit(gboolean use);
 void g_process_set_check(gint check_period, gboolean (*check_fn)(void));
 
-void g_process_start(void);
+void g_process_start(gboolean force_foreground);
 void g_process_startup_failed(guint ret_num, gboolean may_exit);
 void g_process_startup_ok(void);
 void g_process_finish(void);
diff -ur syslog-ng-3.1.1.orig/src/main.c syslog-ng-3.1.1/src/main.c
--- syslog-ng-3.1.1.orig/src/main.c	2010-03-14 10:22:50.000000000 -0700
+++ syslog-ng-3.1.1/src/main.c	2010-05-08 19:28:55.000000000 -0700
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@
   /* in this case we switch users early while retaining a limited set of
    * credentials in order to initialize/reinitialize the configuration.
    */
-  g_process_start();
+  g_process_start(syntax_only);
   rc = initial_init(&cfg);
   
   if (rc)