diff --git a/gp2040ce_bintools/__init__.py b/gp2040ce_bintools/__init__.py
index 1a20da0..d0930ec 100644
--- a/gp2040ce_bintools/__init__.py
+++ b/gp2040ce_bintools/__init__.py
@@ -65,5 +65,7 @@ def get_config_pb2():
         except (ModuleNotFoundError, TypeError):
             # (TypeError could be the windows bug https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/issues/14345)
             # that failed, import a precompiled snapshot (may be lagging what's in GP2040-CE)
+            logger.exception("couldn't compile the proto files for the below reason:")
             sys.path.append(os.path.join(pathlib.Path(__file__).parent.resolve(), 'proto_snapshot'))
+            logger.warning("using the precompiled fallback!")
             return importlib.import_module('config_pb2')