diff --git a/src/wpilibsharp/DataLogManager.cs b/src/wpilibsharp/DataLogManager.cs
index 7b0fcb0d..a829af21 100644
--- a/src/wpilibsharp/DataLogManager.cs
+++ b/src/wpilibsharp/DataLogManager.cs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ namespace WPILib;
 
 public static class DataLogManger
 {
-    private static DataLog? m_log;
+    private static DataLogBackgroundWriter? m_log;
     private static bool m_stopped;
     private static string? m_logDir;
     private static bool m_filenameOverride;
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ public static void Start(string dir = "", string filename = "", double period =
                         Console.Error.WriteLine($"DataLogManager: could not delete {file}");
                     }
                 }
-                m_log = new DataLog(m_logDir, MakeLogFilename(filename), period);
+                m_log = new(m_logDir, MakeLogFilename(filename), period);
                 m_messageLog = new StringLogEntry(m_log, "messages");
 
                 if (m_ntLoggerEnabled)
diff --git a/src/wpiutil/Logging/DataLog.cs b/src/wpiutil/Logging/DataLog.cs
index f4b9baa6..a8832d59 100644
--- a/src/wpiutil/Logging/DataLog.cs
+++ b/src/wpiutil/Logging/DataLog.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 using System.Collections.Concurrent;
-using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
-using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
 using WPIUtil.Handles;
 using WPIUtil.Natives;
 using WPIUtil.Serialization.Protobuf;
@@ -8,50 +6,16 @@
 
 namespace WPIUtil.Logging;
 
-public sealed unsafe class DataLog : IDisposable
+public unsafe class DataLog : IDisposable
 {
-    [UnmanagedCallersOnly(CallConvs = [typeof(CallConvCdecl)])]
-    private static void NativeDataLogCallback(void* ptr, byte* data, nuint len)
-    {
-        GCHandle handle = GCHandle.FromIntPtr((nint)ptr);
-        if (handle.Target is DataLog datalog)
-        {
-            datalog.callback?.Invoke(new ReadOnlySpan<byte>(data, (int)len));
-        }
-    }
-
-    private GCHandle? gcHandle;
-    private readonly DataLogCallback? callback;
-
-    public delegate void DataLogCallback(ReadOnlySpan<byte> data);
-
-    public DataLog(string dir = "", string filename = "", double period = 0.25, string extraHeader = "")
-    {
-        NativeHandle = DataLogNative.Create(dir, filename, period, extraHeader);
+    protected DataLog(OpaqueDataLog* impl) {
+        NativeHandle = impl;
     }
 
-    public DataLog(DataLogCallback callback, double period = 0.25, string extraHeader = "")
-    {
-        gcHandle = GCHandle.Alloc(this);
-        this.callback = callback;
-        NativeHandle = DataLogNative.CreateFunc(&NativeDataLogCallback, (void*)GCHandle.ToIntPtr(gcHandle.Value), period, extraHeader);
-    }
-
-    public void Dispose()
+    public virtual void Dispose()
     {
+        GC.SuppressFinalize(this);
         DataLogNative.Release(NativeHandle);
-        if (gcHandle.HasValue)
-        {
-            gcHandle.Value.Free();
-        }
-    }
-
-    public string Filename
-    {
-        set
-        {
-            DataLogNative.SetFilename(NativeHandle, value);
-        }
     }
 
     public void Flush()
@@ -228,6 +192,5 @@ private void AddSchemaImpl(IStructBase value, long timestamp, HashSet<string> se
     }
 
     private readonly ConcurrentDictionary<string, int> m_schemaMap = [];
-
-    public unsafe OpaqueDataLog* NativeHandle { get; } = null;
+    public unsafe OpaqueDataLog* NativeHandle { get; protected init;}
 }
diff --git a/src/wpiutil/Logging/DataLogBackgroundWriter.cs b/src/wpiutil/Logging/DataLogBackgroundWriter.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..eb7527bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/wpiutil/Logging/DataLogBackgroundWriter.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
+using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
+using WPIUtil.Natives;
+
+namespace WPIUtil.Logging;
+
+public sealed unsafe class DataLogBackgroundWriter : DataLog
+{
+    [UnmanagedCallersOnly(CallConvs = [typeof(CallConvCdecl)])]
+    private static void NativeDataLogCallback(void* ptr, byte* data, nuint len)
+    {
+        GCHandle handle = GCHandle.FromIntPtr((nint)ptr);
+        if (handle.Target is DataLogBackgroundWriter datalog)
+        {
+            datalog.callback?.Invoke(new ReadOnlySpan<byte>(data, (int)len));
+        }
+    }
+
+    private GCHandle? gcHandle;
+    private readonly DataLogCallback? callback;
+
+    public delegate void DataLogCallback(ReadOnlySpan<byte> data);
+
+    public DataLogBackgroundWriter(string dir = "", string filename = "", double period = 0.25, string extraHeader = "") : base(DataLogNative.CreateBg(dir, filename, period, extraHeader)) {
+
+    }
+
+    public DataLogBackgroundWriter(DataLogCallback callback, double period = 0.25, string extraHeader = "") : base(null)
+    {
+        gcHandle = GCHandle.Alloc(this);
+        this.callback = callback;
+        NativeHandle = DataLogNative.CreateBgFunc(&NativeDataLogCallback, (void*)GCHandle.ToIntPtr(gcHandle.Value), period, extraHeader);
+    }
+
+    public override void Dispose()
+    {
+        base.Dispose();
+        if (gcHandle.HasValue) {
+            gcHandle.Value.Free();
+        }
+    }
+
+    public string Filename
+    {
+        set
+        {
+            DataLogNative.SetFilename(NativeHandle, value);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/wpiutil/Logging/DataLogWriter.cs b/src/wpiutil/Logging/DataLogWriter.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bcc846b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/wpiutil/Logging/DataLogWriter.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+using WPIUtil.Natives;
+
+namespace WPIUtil.Logging;
+
+public unsafe class DataLogWriter : DataLog
+{
+    public DataLogWriter(string filename, string extraHeader = "") : base(DataLogNative.Create(filename, extraHeader)) {
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/wpiutil/Natives/DataLogNative.cs b/src/wpiutil/Natives/DataLogNative.cs
index adaf0e30..f251ef12 100644
--- a/src/wpiutil/Natives/DataLogNative.cs
+++ b/src/wpiutil/Natives/DataLogNative.cs
@@ -10,13 +10,17 @@ public struct OpaqueDataLog { }
 
 public static partial class DataLogNative
 {
-    [LibraryImport("wpiutil", EntryPoint = "WPI_DataLog_Create")]
+    [LibraryImport("wpiutil", EntryPoint = "WPI_DataLog_CreateWriter")]
     [UnmanagedCallConv(CallConvs = [typeof(CallConvCdecl)])]
-    public static unsafe partial OpaqueDataLog* Create(WpiString dir, WpiString filename, double period, WpiString extraHeader);
+    public static unsafe partial OpaqueDataLog* Create(WpiString dir, WpiString filename);
 
-    [LibraryImport("wpiutil", EntryPoint = "WPI_DataLog_Create_Func")]
+    [LibraryImport("wpiutil", EntryPoint = "WPI_DataLog_CreateBackgroundWriter")]
     [UnmanagedCallConv(CallConvs = [typeof(CallConvCdecl)])]
-    public static unsafe partial OpaqueDataLog* CreateFunc(delegate* unmanaged[Cdecl]<void*, byte*, nuint, void> write, void* ptr, double period, WpiString extraHeader);
+    public static unsafe partial OpaqueDataLog* CreateBg(WpiString dir, WpiString filename, double period, WpiString extraHeader);
+
+    [LibraryImport("wpiutil", EntryPoint = "WPI_DataLog_CreateBackgroundWriter_Func")]
+    [UnmanagedCallConv(CallConvs = [typeof(CallConvCdecl)])]
+    public static unsafe partial OpaqueDataLog* CreateBgFunc(delegate* unmanaged[Cdecl]<void*, byte*, nuint, void> write, void* ptr, double period, WpiString extraHeader);
 
     [LibraryImport("wpiutil", EntryPoint = "WPI_DataLog_Release")]
     [UnmanagedCallConv(CallConvs = [typeof(CallConvCdecl)])]
diff --git a/test/wpiutil.test/DataLogTest.cs b/test/wpiutil.test/DataLogTest.cs
index 51362bba..2fa672b7 100644
--- a/test/wpiutil.test/DataLogTest.cs
+++ b/test/wpiutil.test/DataLogTest.cs
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ public void TestDoesntCrash()
     {
         CallbackData cb = new();
         {
-            using DataLog dl = new(cb.Callback);
+            using var dl = new DataLogBackgroundWriter(cb.Callback);
         }
     }
 }