diff --git a/debuggerd/handler/debuggerd_handler.cpp b/debuggerd/handler/debuggerd_handler.cpp
index a064ca0..bca5e36 100644
--- a/debuggerd/handler/debuggerd_handler.cpp
+++ b/debuggerd/handler/debuggerd_handler.cpp
@@ -383,7 +383,9 @@
 
     execle(CRASH_DUMP_PATH, CRASH_DUMP_NAME, main_tid, pseudothread_tid, debuggerd_dump_type,
            nullptr, nullptr);
-    fatal_errno("exec failed");
+    async_safe_format_log(ANDROID_LOG_FATAL, "libc", "failed to exec crash_dump helper: %s",
+                          strerror(errno));
+    return 1;
   }
 
   input_write.reset();