diff --git a/.chloggen/k8sattributes-k8s-client-init-log.yaml b/.chloggen/k8sattributes-k8s-client-init-log.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f1c67ff28319
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.chloggen/k8sattributes-k8s-client-init-log.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# Use this changelog template to create an entry for release notes.
+
+# One of 'breaking', 'deprecation', 'new_component', 'enhancement', 'bug_fix'
+change_type: bug_fix
+
+# The name of the component, or a single word describing the area of concern, (e.g. filelogreceiver)
+component: k8sattributesreceiver
+
+# A brief description of the change.  Surround your text with quotes ("") if it needs to start with a backtick (`).
+note: Log any errors encountered during kube client initialisation
+
+# Mandatory: One or more tracking issues related to the change. You can use the PR number here if no issue exists.
+issues: [35879]
+
+# (Optional) One or more lines of additional information to render under the primary note.
+# These lines will be padded with 2 spaces and then inserted directly into the document.
+# Use pipe (|) for multiline entries.
+subtext: | 
+  This addresses an issue where the collector, due to an error encountered during the kubernetes client initialisation,
+  was reporting an 'unavailable' status via the health check extension without any further information to be found in the logs.
+
+# If your change doesn't affect end users or the exported elements of any package,
+# you should instead start your pull request title with [chore] or use the "Skip Changelog" label.
+# Optional: The change log or logs in which this entry should be included.
+# e.g. '[user]' or '[user, api]'
+# Include 'user' if the change is relevant to end users.
+# Include 'api' if there is a change to a library API.
+# Default: '[user]'
+change_logs: []
diff --git a/processor/k8sattributesprocessor/processor.go b/processor/k8sattributesprocessor/processor.go
index 98499f5e5473..9fa753f95fe7 100644
--- a/processor/k8sattributesprocessor/processor.go
+++ b/processor/k8sattributesprocessor/processor.go
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ func (kp *kubernetesprocessor) Start(_ context.Context, host component.Host) err
 
 	for _, opt := range allOptions {
 		if err := opt(kp); err != nil {
+			kp.logger.Error("Could not apply option", zap.Error(err))
 			componentstatus.ReportStatus(host, componentstatus.NewFatalErrorEvent(err))
 			return err
 		}
@@ -71,6 +72,7 @@ func (kp *kubernetesprocessor) Start(_ context.Context, host component.Host) err
 	if kp.kc == nil {
 		err := kp.initKubeClient(kp.telemetrySettings, kubeClientProvider)
 		if err != nil {
+			kp.logger.Error("Could not initialize kube client", zap.Error(err))
 			componentstatus.ReportStatus(host, componentstatus.NewFatalErrorEvent(err))
 			return err
 		}