diff --git a/lib/datasource/npm.js b/lib/datasource/npm.js
index 5fc7408e2063d457a1f8be6857d517c97797bcfe..31a956dae162cf69570a4f299fa176e450842366 100644
--- a/lib/datasource/npm.js
+++ b/lib/datasource/npm.js
@@ -220,6 +220,9 @@ async function getDependency(name, retries = 5) {
         throw new Error('registry-failure');
       }
       const retryAfter = err.headers['retry-after'] || 30;
+      logger.info(
+        `npm too many requests. retrying after ${retryAfter} seconds`
+      );
       await delay(1000 * (retryAfter + 1));
       return getDependency(name, retries - 1);
     }