diff --git a/synapse/metrics/__init__.py b/synapse/metrics/__init__.py
index 3a690dd7bf..b6ccacbc1c 100644
--- a/synapse/metrics/__init__.py
+++ b/synapse/metrics/__init__.py
@@ -660,4 +660,4 @@ try:
 
 
 except Exception:
-    pass
+    logger.exception("Failed to start jemalloc metrics")