diff --git a/gitea-runner/install.sh b/gitea-runner/install.sh
index 91cd3f0..7efcfb2 100644
--- a/gitea-runner/install.sh
+++ b/gitea-runner/install.sh
@@ -28,9 +28,10 @@ GREEN='\033[0;32m'
 YELLOW='\033[1;33m'
 NC='\033[0m'
 
-log_info()  { echo -e "${GREEN}[INFO]${NC} $1"; }
-log_warn()  { echo -e "${YELLOW}[WARN]${NC} $1"; }
-log_error() { echo -e "${RED}[ERROR]${NC} $1"; }
+# Logs go to stderr so callers can safely use $(fn) without capturing log noise.
+log_info()  { echo -e "${GREEN}[INFO]${NC} $1" >&2; }
+log_warn()  { echo -e "${YELLOW}[WARN]${NC} $1" >&2; }
+log_error() { echo -e "${RED}[ERROR]${NC} $1" >&2; }
 
 require_root() {
   if [[ "$(id -u)" -ne 0 ]]; then