diff --git a/src/AWS.Logger.AspNetCore/AWS.Logger.AspNetCore.csproj b/src/AWS.Logger.AspNetCore/AWS.Logger.AspNetCore.csproj
index d888d3d..628fc83 100644
--- a/src/AWS.Logger.AspNetCore/AWS.Logger.AspNetCore.csproj
+++ b/src/AWS.Logger.AspNetCore/AWS.Logger.AspNetCore.csproj
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
     <SignAssembly>True</SignAssembly>
     <AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>..\..\public.snk</AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>
-    <Version>3.5.2</Version>
+    <Version>3.5.3</Version>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/AWS.Logger.Core/AWS.Logger.Core.csproj b/src/AWS.Logger.Core/AWS.Logger.Core.csproj
index 0fa8cba..73cb9f7 100644
--- a/src/AWS.Logger.Core/AWS.Logger.Core.csproj
+++ b/src/AWS.Logger.Core/AWS.Logger.Core.csproj
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
     <SignAssembly>True</SignAssembly>
     <DelaySign>False</DelaySign>
     <AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>..\..\public.snk</AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>
-    <Version>3.3.2</Version>
+    <Version>3.3.3</Version>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/AWS.Logger.Core/Core/AWSLoggerCore.cs b/src/AWS.Logger.Core/Core/AWSLoggerCore.cs
index 8c01f6a..e3e00ff 100644
--- a/src/AWS.Logger.Core/Core/AWSLoggerCore.cs
+++ b/src/AWS.Logger.Core/Core/AWSLoggerCore.cs
@@ -30,10 +30,25 @@ public class AWSLoggerCore : IAWSLoggerCore
         private SemaphoreSlim _flushTriggerEvent;
         private ManualResetEventSlim _flushCompletedEvent;
         private AWSLoggerConfig _config;
-        private IAmazonCloudWatchLogs _client;
         private DateTime _maxBufferTimeStamp = new DateTime();
         private string _logType;
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Internal CloudWatch Logs client
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <remarks>
+        /// We defer the initialization of the client until it is first accessed. This avoids a deadlock for log4net:
+        ///   1. The thread creating the logger (which contains the CWL client) gets an internal lock in log4net, then tries to 
+        ///      access SDK configuration via the static FallbackInternalConfigurationFactory.
+        ///   2. The timer thread the SDK uses to load EC2 IMDS credentials requests SDK configuration via 
+        ///      FallbackInternalConfigurationFactory, which attempts to create additional loggers for logging the configuration loading.
+        /// There's an implicit lock around FallbackInternalConfigurationFactory's static constructor, so these two threads deadlock.
+        /// 
+        /// By delaying initializing the internal client, we delay starting thread 2 until thread 1 has finished, that way we're 
+        /// not creating additional log4net loggers in FallbackInternalConfigurationFactory while another thread is holding the log4net lock.
+        /// </remarks>
+        private Lazy<IAmazonCloudWatchLogs> _client;
+
         private static readonly string _assemblyVersion = typeof(AWSLoggerCore).GetTypeInfo().Assembly.GetName().Version?.ToString() ?? string.Empty;
         private static readonly string _baseUserAgentString = $"lib/aws-logger-core#{_assemblyVersion}";
 
@@ -102,12 +117,16 @@ public AWSLoggerCore(AWSLoggerConfig config, string logType)
                 awsConfig.AuthenticationRegion = _config.AuthenticationRegion;
             }
 
-            var credentials = DetermineCredentials(config);
-            _client = new AmazonCloudWatchLogsClient(credentials, awsConfig);
+            _client = new Lazy<IAmazonCloudWatchLogs>(() => 
+            {
+                var credentials = DetermineCredentials(config);
+                var client  = new AmazonCloudWatchLogsClient(credentials, awsConfig);
 
+                client.BeforeRequestEvent += ServiceClientBeforeRequestEvent;
+                client.ExceptionEvent += ServiceClienExceptionEvent;
 
-            ((AmazonCloudWatchLogsClient)this._client).BeforeRequestEvent += ServiceClientBeforeRequestEvent;
-            ((AmazonCloudWatchLogsClient)this._client).ExceptionEvent += ServiceClienExceptionEvent;
+                return client;
+            });
 
             StartMonitor();
             RegisterShutdownHook();
@@ -215,9 +234,9 @@ private string GetServiceUrl()
         {
             try
             {
-                _client.Config.Validate();
+                _client.Value.Config.Validate();
 #pragma warning disable CS0618 // Type or member is obsolete
-                return _client.Config.DetermineServiceURL() ?? "Undetermined ServiceURL";
+                return _client.Value.Config.DetermineServiceURL() ?? "Undetermined ServiceURL";
 #pragma warning restore CS0618 // Type or member is obsolete
             }
             catch (Exception ex)
@@ -331,7 +350,7 @@ private async Task Monitor(CancellationToken token)
                         LogLibraryServiceError(ex);
                     if (token.IsCancellationRequested)
                     {
-                        _client.Dispose();
+                        _client.Value.Dispose();
                         return;
                     }
                 }
@@ -380,7 +399,7 @@ private async Task Monitor(CancellationToken token)
                 {
                     if (!token.IsCancellationRequested || !_repo.IsEmpty || !_pendingMessageQueue.IsEmpty)
                         LogLibraryServiceError(ex);
-                    _client.Dispose();
+                    _client.Value.Dispose();
                     return;
                 }
                 catch (Exception ex)
@@ -403,7 +422,7 @@ private async Task SendMessages(CancellationToken token)
             {
                 //Make sure the log events are in the right order.
                 _repo._request.LogEvents.Sort((ev1, ev2) => ev1.Timestamp.CompareTo(ev2.Timestamp));
-                var response = await _client.PutLogEventsAsync(_repo._request, token).ConfigureAwait(false);
+                var response = await _client.Value.PutLogEventsAsync(_repo._request, token).ConfigureAwait(false);
                 _repo.Reset();
             }
             catch (ResourceNotFoundException ex)
@@ -425,7 +444,7 @@ private async Task<string> LogEventTransmissionSetup(CancellationToken token)
 
             if (!_config.DisableLogGroupCreation)
             {
-                var logGroupResponse = await _client.DescribeLogGroupsAsync(new DescribeLogGroupsRequest
+                var logGroupResponse = await _client.Value.DescribeLogGroupsAsync(new DescribeLogGroupsRequest
                 {
                     LogGroupNamePrefix = _config.LogGroup
                 }, token).ConfigureAwait(false);
@@ -436,7 +455,7 @@ private async Task<string> LogEventTransmissionSetup(CancellationToken token)
 
                 if (logGroupResponse.LogGroups.FirstOrDefault(x => string.Equals(x.LogGroupName, _config.LogGroup, StringComparison.Ordinal)) == null)
                 {
-                    var createGroupResponse = await _client.CreateLogGroupAsync(new CreateLogGroupRequest { LogGroupName = _config.LogGroup }, token).ConfigureAwait(false);
+                    var createGroupResponse = await _client.Value.CreateLogGroupAsync(new CreateLogGroupRequest { LogGroupName = _config.LogGroup }, token).ConfigureAwait(false);
                     if (!IsSuccessStatusCode(createGroupResponse))
                     {
                         LogLibraryServiceError(new System.Net.WebException($"Create LogGroup {_config.LogGroup} returned status: {createGroupResponse.HttpStatusCode}"), serviceURL);
@@ -454,7 +473,7 @@ private async Task<string> LogEventTransmissionSetup(CancellationToken token)
 
             try
             {
-                var streamResponse = await _client.CreateLogStreamAsync(new CreateLogStreamRequest
+                var streamResponse = await _client.Value.CreateLogStreamAsync(new CreateLogStreamRequest
                 {
                     LogGroupName = _config.LogGroup,
                     LogStreamName = currentStreamName
@@ -486,7 +505,7 @@ private void PutRetentionPolicy(int logGroupRetentionInDays, string logGroup, st
                 {
                     try
                     {
-                        var putPolicyResponse = await _client.PutRetentionPolicyAsync(new PutRetentionPolicyRequest(logGroup, logGroupRetentionInDays), token).ConfigureAwait(false);
+                        var putPolicyResponse = await _client.Value.PutRetentionPolicyAsync(new PutRetentionPolicyRequest(logGroup, logGroupRetentionInDays), token).ConfigureAwait(false);
                         if (!IsSuccessStatusCode(putPolicyResponse))
                         {
                             LogLibraryServiceError(new System.Net.WebException($"Put retention policy {logGroupRetentionInDays} for LogGroup {logGroup} returned status: {putPolicyResponse.HttpStatusCode}"), serviceURL);
diff --git a/src/AWS.Logger.Core/IAWSLoggerConfig.cs b/src/AWS.Logger.Core/IAWSLoggerConfig.cs
index 746718b..ddbf29e 100644
--- a/src/AWS.Logger.Core/IAWSLoggerConfig.cs
+++ b/src/AWS.Logger.Core/IAWSLoggerConfig.cs
@@ -142,7 +142,7 @@ public interface IAWSLoggerConfig
         bool LibraryLogErrors { get; set; }
         
         /// <summary>
-        /// Gets and sets the LibraryLogFileName property. This is the name of the file into which errors from the AWS.Logger.Core library will be written into.
+        /// Gets and sets the LibraryLogFileName property. This is the name (and optional path) of the file into which errors from the AWS.Logger.Core library will be written into.
         /// <para>
         /// The default is going to "aws-logger-errors.txt".
         /// </para>
diff --git a/src/AWS.Logger.Log4net/AWS.Logger.Log4net.csproj b/src/AWS.Logger.Log4net/AWS.Logger.Log4net.csproj
index 31d83ac..a612fab 100644
--- a/src/AWS.Logger.Log4net/AWS.Logger.Log4net.csproj
+++ b/src/AWS.Logger.Log4net/AWS.Logger.Log4net.csproj
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
     <SignAssembly>True</SignAssembly>
     <AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>..\..\public.snk</AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>
-    <Version>3.5.2</Version>
+    <Version>3.5.3</Version>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/AWS.Logger.Log4net/AWSAppender.cs b/src/AWS.Logger.Log4net/AWSAppender.cs
index 82df402..b8d1bec 100644
--- a/src/AWS.Logger.Log4net/AWSAppender.cs
+++ b/src/AWS.Logger.Log4net/AWSAppender.cs
@@ -233,7 +233,7 @@ public TimeSpan FlushTimeout
         }
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Gets and sets the LibraryLogFileName property. This is the name of the file into which errors from the AWS.Logger.Core library will be written into.
+        /// Gets and sets the LibraryLogFileName property. This is the name (and optional path) of the file into which errors from the AWS.Logger.Core library will be written into.
         /// <para>
         /// The default is going to "aws-logger-errors.txt".
         /// </para>
diff --git a/src/AWS.Logger.SeriLog/AWS.Logger.SeriLog.csproj b/src/AWS.Logger.SeriLog/AWS.Logger.SeriLog.csproj
index 42d900d..c25e41b 100644
--- a/src/AWS.Logger.SeriLog/AWS.Logger.SeriLog.csproj
+++ b/src/AWS.Logger.SeriLog/AWS.Logger.SeriLog.csproj
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
     <SignAssembly>True</SignAssembly>
     <AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>..\..\public.snk</AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>
-    <Version>3.4.2</Version>
+    <Version>3.4.3</Version>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/src/NLog.AWS.Logger/AWSTarget.cs b/src/NLog.AWS.Logger/AWSTarget.cs
index 824fb45..aea632f 100644
--- a/src/NLog.AWS.Logger/AWSTarget.cs
+++ b/src/NLog.AWS.Logger/AWSTarget.cs
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ public bool LibraryLogErrors
         }
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Gets and sets the LibraryLogFileName property. This is the name of the file into which errors from the AWS.Logger.Core library will be written into.
+        /// Gets and sets the LibraryLogFileName property. This is the name (and optional path) of the file into which errors from the AWS.Logger.Core library will be written into.
         /// <para>
         /// The default is "aws-logger-errors.txt".
         /// </para>
diff --git a/src/NLog.AWS.Logger/NLog.AWS.Logger.csproj b/src/NLog.AWS.Logger/NLog.AWS.Logger.csproj
index 5a4875b..7197bef 100644
--- a/src/NLog.AWS.Logger/NLog.AWS.Logger.csproj
+++ b/src/NLog.AWS.Logger/NLog.AWS.Logger.csproj
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 
     <SignAssembly>True</SignAssembly>
     <AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>..\..\public.snk</AssemblyOriginatorKeyFile>
-    <Version>3.3.3</Version>
+    <Version>3.3.4</Version>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>