diff --git a/services/harmony/app/backends/workflow-orchestration/work-item-updates.ts b/services/harmony/app/backends/workflow-orchestration/work-item-updates.ts
index a7b3aa014..595624ee5 100644
--- a/services/harmony/app/backends/workflow-orchestration/work-item-updates.ts
+++ b/services/harmony/app/backends/workflow-orchestration/work-item-updates.ts
@@ -564,13 +564,14 @@ export async function preprocessWorkItem(
     durationMs = new Date().getTime() - resultStartTime;
     logger.debug('timing.HWIUWJI.getResultItemSize.end', { durationMs });
   } catch (e) {
-    errorMessage = 'Could not get result item file size from output STAC';
+    if (catalogItems) {
+      errorMessage = 'Cannot get result item file size from output STAC';
+    } else {
+      errorMessage = 'Cannot parse STAC catalog output from service';
+    }
+
     logger.error(errorMessage);
-    logger.error('Caught exception:', {
-      message: e.message,
-      name: e.name,
-      stack: e.stack,
-    });
+    logger.error(`Caught exception: ${e.message}`, { name: e.name, stack: e.stack });
     status = WorkItemStatus.FAILED;
   }
   const result: WorkItemPreprocessInfo = {