diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/WatcherLifeCycleService.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/WatcherLifeCycleService.java
index bf4d724c789..b8a9fe0b509 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/WatcherLifeCycleService.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/watcher/WatcherLifeCycleService.java
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ public class WatcherLifeCycleService extends AbstractComponent implements Cluste
         try {
             watcherService.start(state);
         } catch (Exception e) {
-            logger.debug("failed to start watcher. please wait for the cluster to become ready or try to start Watcher manually");
+            logger.warn("failed to start watcher. please wait for the cluster to become ready or try to start Watcher manually", e);
         }
     }