diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/runners/DataflowPipelineRunner.java b/sdk/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/runners/DataflowPipelineRunner.java
index d2d5aa22de133..340602ee8ac1c 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/runners/DataflowPipelineRunner.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/runners/DataflowPipelineRunner.java
@@ -445,15 +445,13 @@ private void maybeRegisterDebuggee(DataflowPipelineOptions options, String uniqu
           debuggerClient.controller().debuggees().register(registerReq).execute();
       Debuggee debuggee = registerResponse.getDebuggee();
       if (debuggee.getStatus() != null && debuggee.getStatus().getIsError()) {
-        LOG.error("Error registering with debugger: {}",
+        throw new RuntimeException("Unable to register with the debugger: " +
             debuggee.getStatus().getDescription().getFormat());
-        return;
       }
 
       options.setDebuggee(debuggee);
     } catch (IOException e) {
-      System.out.println("Unable to register with debugger: " + e);
-      LOG.error("Unable to register with debugger:", e);
+      throw new RuntimeException("Unable to register with the debugger: ", e);
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/sdk/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/util/Transport.java b/sdk/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/util/Transport.java
index a869782d4cb0d..15fe2863395a9 100644
--- a/sdk/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/util/Transport.java
+++ b/sdk/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/dataflow/sdk/util/Transport.java
@@ -152,10 +152,7 @@ public static Dataflow.Builder newDataflowClient(DataflowPipelineOptions options
   public static Clouddebugger.Builder newClouddebuggerClient(DataflowPipelineOptions options) {
     return new Clouddebugger.Builder(getTransport(),
         getJsonFactory(),
-        chainHttpRequestInitializer(
-            options.getGcpCredential(),
-            // Do not log 404. It clutters the output and is possible even required by the caller.
-            new RetryHttpRequestInitializer(ImmutableList.of(404))))
+        chainHttpRequestInitializer(options.getGcpCredential(), new RetryHttpRequestInitializer()))
         .setApplicationName(options.getAppName())
         .setGoogleClientRequestInitializer(options.getGoogleApiTrace());
   }