diff --git a/core/http/app.go b/core/http/app.go
index e18690def..bfa47c584 100644
--- a/core/http/app.go
+++ b/core/http/app.go
@@ -167,6 +167,21 @@ func API(application *application.Application) (*echo.Echo, error) {
 			res := c.Response()
 			err := next(c)
 
+			// Echo's central HTTPErrorHandler runs *after* this middleware
+			// returns, so res.Status still reads the default 200 here when a
+			// handler returned an error without writing a response. Mirror
+			// echo.DefaultHTTPErrorHandler's status derivation so the access
+			// log reflects the status the client actually receives — without
+			// this, every silent handler error logs as 200.
+			status := res.Status
+			if err != nil && !res.Committed {
+				status = http.StatusInternalServerError
+				var he *echo.HTTPError
+				if errors.As(err, &he) {
+					status = he.Code
+				}
+			}
+
 			// Fix for #7989: Reduce log verbosity of Web UI polling, resources API, and health checks
 			// These paths are logged at DEBUG level (hidden by default) instead of INFO.
 			isQuietPath := false
@@ -177,10 +192,10 @@ func API(application *application.Application) (*echo.Echo, error) {
 				}
 			}
 
-			if isQuietPath && res.Status == 200 {
-				xlog.Debug("HTTP request", "method", req.Method, "path", req.URL.Path, "status", res.Status)
+			if isQuietPath && status == 200 {
+				xlog.Debug("HTTP request", "method", req.Method, "path", req.URL.Path, "status", status)
 			} else {
-				xlog.Info("HTTP request", "method", req.Method, "path", req.URL.Path, "status", res.Status)
+				xlog.Info("HTTP request", "method", req.Method, "path", req.URL.Path, "status", status)
 			}
 			return err
 		}
diff --git a/core/http/endpoints/openai/transcription.go b/core/http/endpoints/openai/transcription.go
index 2979ecd59..6312e3cb9 100644
--- a/core/http/endpoints/openai/transcription.go
+++ b/core/http/endpoints/openai/transcription.go
@@ -128,6 +128,15 @@ func TranscriptEndpoint(cl *config.ModelConfigLoader, ml *model.ModelLoader, app
 
 		tr, err := backend.ModelTranscriptionWithOptions(req, ml, *config, appConfig)
 		if err != nil {
+			// Log before returning so the underlying error survives. Echo's
+			// error handler turns this into a 500 with a generic body, which
+			// otherwise leaves operators chasing a silent failure — see e.g.
+			// distributed transcription, where the gRPC error from a remote
+			// node is the only signal of what actually went wrong.
+			xlog.Error("Transcription failed",
+				"model", config.Name,
+				"audio", dst,
+				"error", err)
 			return err
 		}