diff --git a/qa/os/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/packaging/test/ArchiveTests.java b/qa/os/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/packaging/test/ArchiveTests.java
index 3c17f7ed207..68b02f6311e 100644
--- a/qa/os/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/packaging/test/ArchiveTests.java
+++ b/qa/os/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/packaging/test/ArchiveTests.java
@@ -137,7 +137,16 @@ public class ArchiveTests extends PackagingTestCase {
         // cleanup from previous test
         rm(installation.config("elasticsearch.keystore"));
 
-        Archives.runElasticsearch(installation, sh);
+        try {
+            Archives.runElasticsearch(installation, sh);
+        } catch (Exception e ){
+            if (Files.exists(installation.home.resolve("elasticsearch.pid"))) {
+                String pid = FileUtils.slurp(installation.home.resolve("elasticsearch.pid")).trim();
+                logger.info("Dumping jstack of elasticsearch processb ({}) that failed to start", pid);
+                sh.runIgnoreExitCode("jstack " + pid);
+            }
+            throw e;
+        }
 
         final String gcLogName = Platforms.LINUX && distribution().hasJdk == false
             ? "gc.log.0.current"