diff --git a/test/kafka/kafka-client-loadtest/internal/consumer/consumer.go b/test/kafka/kafka-client-loadtest/internal/consumer/consumer.go
index 3dd7e24c8..36947d704 100644
--- a/test/kafka/kafka-client-loadtest/internal/consumer/consumer.go
+++ b/test/kafka/kafka-client-loadtest/internal/consumer/consumer.go
@@ -647,9 +647,16 @@ func (h *ConsumerGroupHandler) ConsumeClaim(session sarama.ConsumerGroupSession,
 				if len(gaps) > 0 {
 					gapSummary = fmt.Sprintf("[%s]", strings.Join(gaps, ", "))
 				}
-				log.Printf("Consumer %d: STOP consuming %s[%d] after %d messages (%.1f sec, %.1f msgs/sec, last offset=%d, total gaps=%d %s)", 
-					h.consumer.id, topic, partition, msgCount, elapsed.Seconds(), 
-					float64(msgCount)/elapsed.Seconds(), claim.HighWaterMarkOffset()-1, gapCount, gapSummary)
+				
+				// Check if we consumed just a few messages before stopping
+				if msgCount <= 10 {
+					log.Printf("Consumer %d: CRITICAL - Messages() channel CLOSED early on %s[%d] after only %d messages at offset=%d (HWM=%d, gaps=%d %s)", 
+						h.consumer.id, topic, partition, msgCount, lastTrackedOffset, claim.HighWaterMarkOffset()-1, gapCount, gapSummary)
+				} else {
+					log.Printf("Consumer %d: STOP consuming %s[%d] after %d messages (%.1f sec, %.1f msgs/sec, last offset=%d, HWM=%d, gaps=%d %s)", 
+						h.consumer.id, topic, partition, msgCount, elapsed.Seconds(), 
+						float64(msgCount)/elapsed.Seconds(), lastTrackedOffset, claim.HighWaterMarkOffset()-1, gapCount, gapSummary)
+				}
 				return nil
 			}
 			msgCount++