diff --git a/homeassistant/bootstrap.py b/homeassistant/bootstrap.py
index 45c04651461..2e3b5522c3f 100644
--- a/homeassistant/bootstrap.py
+++ b/homeassistant/bootstrap.py
@@ -332,15 +332,17 @@ def async_enable_logging(
         not err_path_exists and os.access(err_dir, os.W_OK)
     ):
 
+        err_handler: logging.FileHandler
         if log_rotate_days:
-            err_handler: logging.FileHandler = (
-                logging.handlers.TimedRotatingFileHandler(
-                    err_log_path, when="midnight", backupCount=log_rotate_days
-                )
+            err_handler = logging.handlers.TimedRotatingFileHandler(
+                err_log_path, when="midnight", backupCount=log_rotate_days
             )
         else:
-            err_handler = logging.FileHandler(err_log_path, mode="w", delay=True)
+            err_handler = logging.handlers.RotatingFileHandler(
+                err_log_path, backupCount=1
+            )
 
+        err_handler.rotate(err_log_path, f"{err_log_path[:-4]}.previous.log")
         err_handler.setLevel(logging.INFO if verbose else logging.WARNING)
         err_handler.setFormatter(logging.Formatter(fmt, datefmt=datefmt))
 
diff --git a/tests/test_bootstrap.py b/tests/test_bootstrap.py
index 1fecf7be96b..2bdbab11c32 100644
--- a/tests/test_bootstrap.py
+++ b/tests/test_bootstrap.py
@@ -62,6 +62,13 @@ async def test_async_enable_logging(hass):
     ) as mock_async_activate_log_queue_handler:
         bootstrap.async_enable_logging(hass)
         mock_async_activate_log_queue_handler.assert_called_once()
+        mock_async_activate_log_queue_handler.reset_mock()
+        bootstrap.async_enable_logging(
+            hass,
+            log_rotate_days=5,
+            log_file="test.log",
+        )
+        mock_async_activate_log_queue_handler.assert_called_once()
 
 
 async def test_load_hassio(hass):