postgres 8.4.20 With these settings, the daemon starts : > postgresql.conf > shared_preload_libraries = 'auto_explain' With these settings, the daemon doesn't start : > postgresql.conf > shared_preload_libraries = 'auto_explain' > auto_explain.log_min_duration = 1000 It is a server with a legacy application, so we cannot upgrade PG. I cannot find documentation of this behaviour / bug...