diff --git a/lib/platform/github/index.ts b/lib/platform/github/index.ts
index 18d3737f9a3a27e2d59e6254375211cc4fde6065..ef6810b0896e025a2a422c4ad27a0566a6a0fdd6 100644
--- a/lib/platform/github/index.ts
+++ b/lib/platform/github/index.ts
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ export async function initRepo({
       logger.debug('Could not find allowed merge methods for repo');
     }
   } catch (err) /* istanbul ignore next */ {
-    logger.debug('Caught initRepo error');
+    logger.debug({ err }, 'Caught initRepo error');
     if (
       err.message === REPOSITORY_ARCHIVED ||
       err.message === REPOSITORY_RENAMED ||