diff --git a/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/writers/ascii.bro b/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/writers/ascii.bro
index 1b5b1be33d..5c04fdd3d9 100644
--- a/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/writers/ascii.bro
+++ b/scripts/base/frameworks/logging/writers/ascii.bro
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ export {
 	const include_header = T &redef;
 
 	## Prefix for the header line if included.
-	const header_prefix = "# " &redef;
+	const header_prefix = "#" &redef;
 
 	## Separator between fields.
 	const separator = "\t" &redef;
diff --git a/src/LogWriterAscii.cc b/src/LogWriterAscii.cc
index bf3a7d5efe..04c90715fb 100644
--- a/src/LogWriterAscii.cc
+++ b/src/LogWriterAscii.cc
@@ -6,6 +6,27 @@
 #include "LogWriterAscii.h"
 #include "NetVar.h"
 
+/**
+ * Takes a string, escapes each character into its equivalent hex code (\x##), and
+ * returns a string containing all escaped values.
+ *
+ * @param str string to escape
+ * @return A std::string containing a list of escaped hex values of the form \x##
+ */
+static string get_escaped_string(const std::string& str)
+{
+	char tbuf[16];
+	string esc = "";
+
+	for ( size_t i = 0; i < str.length(); ++i )
+		{
+		snprintf(tbuf, sizeof(tbuf), "\\x%02x", str[i]);
+		esc += tbuf;
+		}
+
+	return esc;
+}
+
 LogWriterAscii::LogWriterAscii()
 	{
 	file = 0;
@@ -52,6 +73,14 @@ LogWriterAscii::~LogWriterAscii()
 	delete [] header_prefix;
 	}
 
+bool LogWriterAscii::WriteHeaderField(const string& key, const string& val)
+	{
+	string str = string(header_prefix, header_prefix_len) +
+		key + string(separator, separator_len) + val + "\n";
+
+	return (fwrite(str.c_str(), str.length(), 1, file) == 1);
+	}
+
 bool LogWriterAscii::DoInit(string path, int num_fields,
 			    const LogField* const * fields)
 	{
@@ -70,22 +99,35 @@ bool LogWriterAscii::DoInit(string path, int num_fields,
 
 	if ( include_header )
 		{
-		if ( fwrite(header_prefix, header_prefix_len, 1, file) != 1 )
+		string str = string(header_prefix, header_prefix_len)
+			+ "separator " // Always use space as separator here.
+			+ get_escaped_string(string(separator, separator_len))
+			+ "\n";
+
+		if( fwrite(str.c_str(), str.length(), 1, file) != 1 )
 			goto write_error;
 
-		for ( int i = 0; i < num_fields; i++ )
+		if ( ! WriteHeaderField("path", path) )
+			goto write_error;
+
+		string names;
+		string types;
+
+		for ( int i = 0; i < num_fields; ++i )
 			{
-			if ( i > 0 &&
-			     fwrite(separator, separator_len, 1, file) != 1 )
-				goto write_error;
+			if ( i > 0 )
+				{
+				names += string(separator, separator_len);
+				types += string(separator, separator_len);
+				}
 
 			const LogField* field = fields[i];
-
-			if ( fputs(field->name.c_str(), file) == EOF )
-				goto write_error;
+			names += field->name;
+			types += type_name(field->type);
 			}
 
-		if ( fputc('\n', file) == EOF )
+		if ( ! (WriteHeaderField("fields", names)
+			&& WriteHeaderField("types", types)) )
 			goto write_error;
 		}
 
diff --git a/src/LogWriterAscii.h b/src/LogWriterAscii.h
index cceb685ff9..403767d589 100644
--- a/src/LogWriterAscii.h
+++ b/src/LogWriterAscii.h
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ protected:
 private:
 	bool IsSpecial(string path) 	{ return path.find("/dev/") == 0; }
 	bool DoWriteOne(ODesc* desc, LogVal* val, const LogField* field);
+	bool WriteHeaderField(const string& key, const string& value);
 
 	FILE* file;
 	string fname;