diff --git a/gitlab/functions.sh b/gitlab/functions.sh
index a62ec6c2345fe2e9f816181e2a2b7bdd6f413d26..8700edaad11acc8e0a76b686b731b99b88357e64 100644
--- a/gitlab/functions.sh
+++ b/gitlab/functions.sh
@@ -37,28 +37,29 @@ is_master() {
 }
 
 
-log_date() {
-	date +%T.%3N
+# datetime prefix for logging
+log_datetime() {
+	echo "($(date +%T.%3N))"
 }
 
 # Functions for coloring echo commands
 log_debug() {
-  echo -e "$(log_date) \033[1;32m${@}\033[0m"
+  echo -e "$(log_datetime) \033[1;32m${@}\033[0m"
 }
 
 
 log_info() {
-  echo -e "$(log_date) \033[1;34m${@}\033[0m"
+  echo -e "$(log_datetime) \033[1;34m${@}\033[0m"
 }
 
 
 log_warn() {
-  echo -e "$(log_date) \033[1;35mWarning: ${@}\033[0m" >&2
+  echo -e "$(log_datetime) \033[1;35mWarning: ${@}\033[0m" >&2
 }
 
 
 log_error() {
-  echo -e "$(log_date) \033[1;31mError: ${@}\033[0m" >&2
+  echo -e "$(log_datetime) \033[1;31mError: ${@}\033[0m" >&2
 }