diff --git a/src/cost/pricing-fetcher.ts b/src/cost/pricing-fetcher.ts
index c10fcb4b0..8e78fd15f 100644
--- a/src/cost/pricing-fetcher.ts
+++ b/src/cost/pricing-fetcher.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,9 @@ import { mkdir } from "node:fs/promises";
 import { homedir } from "node:os";
 import { dirname, join } from "node:path";
 
+import { getLogger } from "@intx/log";
 import { type } from "arktype";
-import { SETTINGS_DIR_NAME } from "../branding.js";
+import { LOG_NAMESPACE_ROOT, SETTINGS_DIR_NAME } from "../branding.js";
 
 export interface ModelPricing {
   inputPricePerToken: number;
@@ -47,6 +48,8 @@ const DEFAULT_ENDPOINT = "https://models.dev/api.json";
 const DEFAULT_REFRESH_INTERVAL_MS = 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
 const DEFAULT_FETCH_TIMEOUT_MS = 5000;
 
+const log = getLogger([LOG_NAMESPACE_ROOT, "cost", "pricing"]);
+
 const modelPricingValidator = type({
   inputPricePerToken: "number",
   outputPricePerToken: "number",
@@ -288,7 +291,11 @@ export async function loadPricing(
     const pricing = await fetchPricing(options);
     await writePricingCache(pricing, cachePath);
     return pricing;
-  } catch {
+  } catch (err) {
+    // One debug line keeps a failed refresh observable while stale cache carries on.
+    log.debug("pricing refresh failed, keeping cached pricing: {error}", {
+      error: err instanceof Error ? err.message : String(err),
+    });
     return readPricingCache(cachePath);
   }
 }
diff --git a/src/pricing-fetcher.test.ts b/src/pricing-fetcher.test.ts
index af52a0132..c4db4414b 100644
--- a/src/pricing-fetcher.test.ts
+++ b/src/pricing-fetcher.test.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import { defined } from "../testkit/defined.js";
 import { describe, test, expect } from "bun:test";
 import { isAbsolute, join } from "node:path";
+import { configureSync, getConfig, resetSync } from "@intx/log";
 import {
   parseModelsDevContextWindows,
   parseModelsDevPricing,
@@ -259,6 +260,43 @@ describe("loadPricing", () => {
 
     expect(result).toBeNull();
   });
+
+  test("emits a single debug line when refresh fails", async () => {
+    const records: { level: string; text: string }[] = [];
+    const previous = getConfig();
+    configureSync({
+      reset: true,
+      sinks: {
+        test: (record) => {
+          records.push({
+            level: record.level,
+            text: record.message.map(String).join(""),
+          });
+        },
+      },
+      loggers: [{ category: [], lowestLevel: "debug", sinks: ["test"] }],
+    });
+    try {
+      const failingFetch = (async (): Promise<Response> => {
+        throw new Error("network error");
+      }) as unknown as typeof fetch;
+      const result = await loadPricing({
+        fetchImpl: failingFetch,
+        cachePath: "/tmp/nonexistent-pricing-cache-debug.json",
+      });
+      expect(result).toBeNull();
+      const hits = records.filter(
+        (record) =>
+          record.level === "debug" &&
+          record.text.includes("pricing refresh failed"),
+      );
+      expect(hits).toHaveLength(1);
+      expect(hits[0]?.text).toContain("network error");
+    } finally {
+      if (previous === null) resetSync();
+      else configureSync({ ...previous, reset: true });
+    }
+  });
 });
 
 // ---------------------------------------------------------------------------