diff --git a/misc/log-analytics/import_logs.py b/misc/log-analytics/import_logs.py
index 071147c1d646055557eb44765dda3a86729e13b6..bc9fbd4034be582a89c1051713ccde94900efa0d 100755
--- a/misc/log-analytics/import_logs.py
+++ b/misc/log-analytics/import_logs.py
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ class Configuration(object):
             logging.debug('Accepted hostnames: all')
 
         if self.options.log_format_regex:
-            self.format_regexp = self.options.log_format_regex
+            self.format_regexp = re.compile(self.options.log_format_regex)
         elif self.options.log_format_name:
             try:
                 self.format_regexp = re.compile(FORMATS[self.options.log_format_name])