diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/actor_context.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/actor_context.rs
index 9a55a6f91eb..6308dd9ca6f 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/actor_context.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/actor_context.rs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ use std::time::Duration;
 use quickwit_common::{KillSwitch, Progress, ProtectedZoneGuard};
 use quickwit_metrics::Counter;
 use tokio::sync::{oneshot, watch};
-use tracing::{debug, error};
+use tracing::debug;
 
 #[cfg(any(test, feature = "testsuite"))]
 use crate::Universe;
@@ -209,12 +209,17 @@ impl<A: Actor> ActorContext<A> {
         obs_state
     }
 
-    pub(crate) fn exit(&self, exit_status: &ActorExitStatus) {
-        self.actor_state.exit(exit_status.is_success());
+    pub(crate) fn exit(&self, exit_status: &ActorExitStatus, fault_opt: Option<anyhow::Error>) {
+        // The fault has to be recorded before the failed state becomes observable: a supervisor
+        // that sees the failure first would terminate the pipeline and kill this very switch,
+        // and the fault would then be dropped as a mere consequence of that kill.
         if should_activate_kill_switch(exit_status) {
-            error!(actor=%self.actor_instance_id(), exit_status=?exit_status, "exit activating-kill-switch");
-            self.kill_switch().kill();
+            match fault_opt {
+                Some(fault) => self.kill_switch().kill_with_fault(fault),
+                None => self.kill_switch().kill(),
+            }
         }
+        self.actor_state.exit(exit_status.is_success());
     }
 
     /// Posts a message in an actor's mailbox.
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/actor_handle.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/actor_handle.rs
index 7de27a736e6..33b61ab1722 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/actor_handle.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/actor_handle.rs
@@ -89,7 +89,6 @@ impl<A: Actor> Supervisable for ActorHandle<A> {
             return Health::Success;
         }
         if actor_state == ActorState::Failure {
-            error!(actor = self.name(), "actor-exit-without-success");
             return Health::FailureOrUnhealthy;
         }
         if !check_for_progress
@@ -100,7 +99,12 @@ impl<A: Actor> Supervisable for ActorHandle<A> {
         {
             Health::Healthy
         } else {
-            error!(actor = self.name(), "actor-timeout");
+            self.actor_context
+                .kill_switch()
+                .kill_with_fault(anyhow::anyhow!(
+                    "{} stopped reporting progress",
+                    self.name()
+                ));
             Health::FailureOrUnhealthy
         }
     }
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/spawn_builder.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/spawn_builder.rs
index 922cfc4d71d..e8308693497 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/spawn_builder.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/spawn_builder.rs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ use anyhow::Context;
 use quickwit_metrics::Counter;
 use sync_wrapper::SyncWrapper;
 use tokio::sync::watch;
-use tracing::{debug, error, info};
+use tracing::{debug, error};
 
 use crate::envelope::Envelope;
 use crate::mailbox::{Inbox, create_mailbox};
@@ -400,23 +400,24 @@ async fn actor_loop<A: Actor>(
             actor_env.process_messages().await
         };
 
-    let actor_id = actor_env.ctx.actor_instance_id();
-    match after_process_exit_status {
-        ActorExitStatus::Success
-        | ActorExitStatus::Quit
-        | ActorExitStatus::DownstreamClosed
-        | ActorExitStatus::Killed => {
-            info!(actor_id, phase = ?exit_phase, exit_status = ?after_process_exit_status, "actor-exit");
-        }
-        ActorExitStatus::Failure(_) | ActorExitStatus::Panicked => {
-            error!(actor_id, phase = ?exit_phase, exit_status = ?after_process_exit_status, "actor-exit");
-        }
-    };
+    let actor_name = actor_env.actor.get_mut().name();
 
     // TODO the no advance time guard for finalize has a race condition. Ideally we would
     // like to have the guard before we drop the last envelope.
     let final_exit_status = actor_env.finalize(after_process_exit_status).await;
+    let fault_opt: Option<anyhow::Error> = match &final_exit_status {
+        ActorExitStatus::Failure(cause) => Some(anyhow::anyhow!(
+            "{actor_name} failed while {exit_phase:?}: {cause:#}"
+        )),
+        ActorExitStatus::Panicked => Some(anyhow::anyhow!(
+            "{actor_name} panicked while {exit_phase:?}"
+        )),
+        ActorExitStatus::Success
+        | ActorExitStatus::Quit
+        | ActorExitStatus::DownstreamClosed
+        | ActorExitStatus::Killed => None,
+    };
     // The last observation is collected on `ActorExecutionEnv::Drop`.
-    actor_env.ctx.exit(&final_exit_status);
+    actor_env.ctx.exit(&final_exit_status, fault_opt);
     final_exit_status
 }
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/supervisor.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/supervisor.rs
index ae26d7933fa..9d3ae906234 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/supervisor.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/supervisor.rs
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 
 use async_trait::async_trait;
 use serde::Serialize;
-use tracing::{info, warn};
 
 use crate::mailbox::Inbox;
 use crate::{Actor, ActorContext, ActorExitStatus, ActorHandle, Handler, Health, Supervisable};
@@ -140,14 +139,12 @@ impl<A: Actor> Supervisor<A> {
                 return Err(ActorExitStatus::Success);
             }
         }
-        warn!("unhealthy-actor");
-        // The actor is failing we need to restart it.
+        // The actor is failing, we need to restart it.
         let actor_handle = self.handle_opt.take().unwrap();
         let actor_mailbox = actor_handle.mailbox().clone();
         let (actor_exit_status, _last_state) = if !actor_handle.state().is_exit() {
             // The actor is probably frozen.
             // Let's kill it.
-            warn!("killing");
             actor_handle.kill().await
         } else {
             actor_handle.join().await
@@ -172,7 +169,6 @@ impl<A: Actor> Supervisor<A> {
                 self.metrics.num_panics += 1;
             }
         }
-        info!("respawning-actor");
         let (_, actor_handle) = ctx
             .spawn_actor()
             .set_mailboxes(actor_mailbox, self.inbox.clone())
@@ -203,7 +199,6 @@ mod tests {
     use std::time::Duration;
 
     use async_trait::async_trait;
-    use tracing::info;
 
     use crate::supervisor::SupervisorMetrics;
     use crate::tests::{Ping, PingReceiverActor};
@@ -239,7 +234,6 @@ mod tests {
             _exit_status: &ActorExitStatus,
             _ctx: &ActorContext<Self>,
         ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-            info!("finalize-failing-actor");
             Ok(())
         }
     }
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/tests.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/tests.rs
index 0842e03d6e5..f1d039baf16 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/tests.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-actors/src/tests.rs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ use serde::Serialize;
 use crate::observation::ObservationType;
 use crate::{
     Actor, ActorContext, ActorExitStatus, ActorHandle, ActorState, Command, Handler, Health,
-    Mailbox, Observation, Supervisable, Universe,
+    KillSwitch, Mailbox, Observation, Supervisable, Universe,
 };
 
 // An actor that receives ping messages.
@@ -220,6 +220,9 @@ struct DoNothing;
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
 struct Block;
 
+#[derive(Clone, Debug)]
+struct Fail;
+
 impl Actor for BuggyActor {
     type ObservableState = ();
 
@@ -259,6 +262,49 @@ impl Handler<Block> for BuggyActor {
     }
 }
 
+#[async_trait]
+impl Handler<Fail> for BuggyActor {
+    type Reply = ();
+
+    async fn handle(
+        &mut self,
+        _message: Fail,
+        _ctx: &ActorContext<Self>,
+    ) -> Result<(), ActorExitStatus> {
+        Err(ActorExitStatus::from(anyhow::anyhow!("handler blew up")))
+    }
+}
+
+#[tokio::test]
+async fn test_failing_actor_records_root_cause_fault() {
+    let universe = Universe::with_accelerated_time();
+    let kill_switch = KillSwitch::default();
+    let (failing_mailbox, failing_handle) = universe
+        .spawn_builder()
+        .set_kill_switch(kill_switch.clone())
+        .spawn(BuggyActor);
+    let (sibling_mailbox, sibling_handle) = universe
+        .spawn_builder()
+        .set_kill_switch(kill_switch.clone())
+        .spawn(BuggyActor);
+    sibling_mailbox.send_message(Block).await.unwrap();
+    failing_mailbox.send_message(Fail).await.unwrap();
+
+    let (exit_status, _) = failing_handle.join().await;
+    assert!(matches!(exit_status, ActorExitStatus::Failure(_)));
+
+    // The sibling is taken down by the shared kill switch. Being a casualty rather than the
+    // root cause, it must not overwrite the fault.
+    let (sibling_exit_status, _) = sibling_handle.join().await;
+    assert!(matches!(sibling_exit_status, ActorExitStatus::Killed));
+
+    let fault = kill_switch.fault().expect("fault should be recorded");
+    let cause = format!("{fault:#}");
+    assert!(cause.contains("BuggyActor"), "{cause}");
+    assert!(cause.contains("handling"), "{cause}");
+    assert!(cause.contains("handler blew up"), "{cause}");
+}
+
 #[tokio::test]
 async fn test_timeouting_actor() {
     let universe = Universe::with_accelerated_time();
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-common/src/kill_switch.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-common/src/kill_switch.rs
index 15c2154c8d9..5231c989603 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-common/src/kill_switch.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-common/src/kill_switch.rs
@@ -13,9 +13,9 @@
 // limitations under the License.
 
 use std::sync::atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering};
-use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex, Weak};
+use std::sync::{Arc, Mutex, OnceLock, Weak};
 
-use tracing::debug;
+use tracing::{debug, error};
 
 #[derive(Clone, Default)]
 pub struct KillSwitch {
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ pub struct KillSwitch {
 
 struct Inner {
     alive: AtomicBool,
+    fault: OnceLock<Arc<anyhow::Error>>,
     children: Mutex<Vec<Weak<Inner>>>,
 }
 
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ impl Default for Inner {
     fn default() -> Self {
         Self {
             alive: AtomicBool::new(true),
+            fault: OnceLock::new(),
             children: Mutex::default(),
         }
     }
@@ -60,6 +62,20 @@ impl KillSwitch {
         self.inner.kill();
     }
 
+    pub fn kill_with_fault(&self, fault: anyhow::Error) {
+        if self.is_alive() {
+            let fault = Arc::new(fault);
+            if self.inner.fault.set(fault.clone()).is_ok() {
+                error!(cause = %format!("{fault:#}"), "actor-fault");
+            }
+        }
+        self.kill();
+    }
+
+    pub fn fault(&self) -> Option<Arc<anyhow::Error>> {
+        self.inner.fault.get().cloned()
+    }
+
     // Creates a child killswitch.
     //
     // If the parent kill switch is dead to begin with, the child will be dead too.
@@ -133,6 +149,34 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(grandchild_kill_switch.is_dead());
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn test_kill_switch_fault() {
+        let kill_switch = KillSwitch::default();
+        assert!(kill_switch.fault().is_none());
+
+        kill_switch.kill_with_fault(anyhow::anyhow!("indexer blew up"));
+        assert!(kill_switch.is_dead());
+        let fault = kill_switch.fault().expect("fault should be recorded");
+        assert_eq!(fault.to_string(), "indexer blew up");
+
+        // The first fault is the root cause: actors dying because of it must not overwrite it.
+        kill_switch.kill_with_fault(anyhow::anyhow!("publisher noticed and gave up"));
+        let fault = kill_switch.fault().expect("fault should be recorded");
+        assert_eq!(fault.to_string(), "indexer blew up");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_kill_switch_without_fault_records_nothing() {
+        let kill_switch = KillSwitch::default();
+        kill_switch.kill();
+        assert!(kill_switch.is_dead());
+        assert!(kill_switch.fault().is_none());
+
+        // An error hit while already dying is a consequence of the kill, not a root cause.
+        kill_switch.kill_with_fault(anyhow::anyhow!("directory kill switch was activated"));
+        assert!(kill_switch.fault().is_none());
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn test_kill_switch_to_quoque_me_fili() {
         let kill_switch = KillSwitch::default();
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/indexing_pipeline.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/indexing_pipeline.rs
index f8183f995e2..ceee1ed0f3f 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/indexing_pipeline.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/indexing_pipeline.rs
@@ -187,13 +187,13 @@ impl IndexingPipeline {
         }
 
         if !failure_or_unhealthy_actors.is_empty() {
-            error!(
+            debug!(
                 pipeline_id=?self.params.pipeline_id,
                 generation=self.generation(),
                 healthy_actors=?healthy_actors,
                 failed_or_unhealthy_actors=?failure_or_unhealthy_actors,
                 success_actors=?success_actors,
-                "Indexing pipeline failure."
+                "indexing pipeline failure"
             );
             return Health::FailureOrUnhealthy;
         }
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/merge_pipeline.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/merge_pipeline.rs
index 093687285d8..6bd8d77ffbf 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/merge_pipeline.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/merge_pipeline.rs
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ impl MergePipeline {
             }
         }
         if !failure_or_unhealthy_actors.is_empty() {
-            error!(
+            debug!(
                 index_uid=%self.params.pipeline_id.index_uid,
                 source_id=%self.params.pipeline_id.source_id,
                 generation=self.generation(),
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/parquet_pipeline/parquet_merge_pipeline.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/parquet_pipeline/parquet_merge_pipeline.rs
index a76c3ee2e03..af39b9c5746 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/parquet_pipeline/parquet_merge_pipeline.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/parquet_pipeline/parquet_merge_pipeline.rs
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ impl ParquetMergePipeline {
             }
         }
         if !failure_or_unhealthy_actors.is_empty() {
-            error!(
+            debug!(
                 generation = self.generation(),
                 healthy_actors = ?healthy_actors,
                 failed_or_unhealthy_actors = ?failure_or_unhealthy_actors,
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/parquet_pipeline/parquet_uploader.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/parquet_pipeline/parquet_uploader.rs
index 620d4720f4c..61ead13d45d 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/parquet_pipeline/parquet_uploader.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/parquet_pipeline/parquet_uploader.rs
@@ -269,11 +269,11 @@ impl Handler<ParquetSplitBatch> for ParquetUploader {
                 let stage_result =
                     stage_splits(metastore.clone(), index_uid.clone(), &splits).await;
 
-                if let Err(e) = stage_result {
-                    warn!(error = %e, "failed to stage splits");
+                if let Err(error) = stage_result {
                     // Discard sequencer position on error
                     let _ = tx.send(SequencerCommand::Discard);
-                    kill_switch.kill();
+                    kill_switch
+                        .kill_with_fault(error.context("ParquetUploader failed to stage splits"));
                     return;
                 }
 
@@ -293,17 +293,17 @@ impl Handler<ParquetSplitBatch> for ParquetUploader {
                     let local_path = output_dir.join(&parquet_file);
                     let file_content = match tokio::fs::read(&local_path).await {
                         Ok(content) => content,
-                        Err(e) => {
-                            warn!(
-                                error = %e,
-                                local_path = %local_path.display(),
-                                split_id = %split.split_id_str(),
-                                parquet_file = %parquet_file,
-                                "failed to read local parquet file"
-                            );
+                        Err(error) => {
                             // Discard sequencer position on error
                             let _ = tx.send(SequencerCommand::Discard);
-                            kill_switch.kill();
+                            kill_switch.kill_with_fault(anyhow::Error::from(error).context(
+                                format!(
+                                    "ParquetUploader failed to read local parquet file {} for \
+                                     split {}",
+                                    local_path.display(),
+                                    split.split_id_str()
+                                ),
+                            ));
                             return;
                         }
                     };
@@ -312,16 +312,14 @@ impl Handler<ParquetSplitBatch> for ParquetUploader {
                     let payload: Box<dyn quickwit_storage::PutPayload> = Box::new(file_content);
 
                     // Upload to S3 using the filename directly (matches logs pipeline)
-                    if let Err(e) = split_store.put(Path::new(&parquet_file), payload).await {
-                        warn!(
-                            error = %e,
-                            split_id = %split.split_id_str(),
-                            parquet_file = %parquet_file,
-                            "failed to upload parquet file"
-                        );
+                    if let Err(error) = split_store.put(Path::new(&parquet_file), payload).await {
                         // Discard sequencer position on error
                         let _ = tx.send(SequencerCommand::Discard);
-                        kill_switch.kill();
+                        kill_switch.kill_with_fault(anyhow::Error::from(error).context(format!(
+                            "ParquetUploader failed to upload parquet file {} for split {}",
+                            parquet_file,
+                            split.split_id_str()
+                        )));
                         return;
                     }
 
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/parquet_pipeline/pipeline.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/parquet_pipeline/pipeline.rs
index d0ed12c2c7a..4056fbeaaa5 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/parquet_pipeline/pipeline.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/parquet_pipeline/pipeline.rs
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ impl MetricsPipeline {
         }
 
         if !failure_or_unhealthy_actors.is_empty() {
-            error!(
+            debug!(
                 pipeline_id=?self.params.pipeline_id,
                 generation=self.generation(),
                 healthy_actors=?healthy_actors,
diff --git a/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/uploader.rs b/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/uploader.rs
index ac1dfeeb5af..f3b9f85e126 100644
--- a/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/uploader.rs
+++ b/quickwit/quickwit-indexing/src/actors/uploader.rs
@@ -376,8 +376,10 @@ impl Handler<PackagedSplitBatch> for Uploader {
                     .await;
 
                     if let Err(cause) = upload_result {
-                        warn!(cause=?cause, split_id=packaged_split.split_id_str(), "Failed to upload split. Killing!");
-                        kill_switch.kill();
+                        kill_switch.kill_with_fault(cause.context(format!(
+                            "Uploader failed to upload split {}",
+                            packaged_split.split_id_str()
+                        )));
                         return;
                     }