diff --git a/src/invocation-plane-services/ratelimiter/cmd/BUILD.bazel b/src/invocation-plane-services/ratelimiter/cmd/BUILD.bazel
index 1fd40ab86..5b1c0e4f9 100644
--- a/src/invocation-plane-services/ratelimiter/cmd/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/src/invocation-plane-services/ratelimiter/cmd/BUILD.bazel
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ go_test(
     srcs = [
         "info_test.go",
         "main_test.go",
+        "metrics_test.go",
     ],
     embed = [":cmd_lib"],
     deps = [
@@ -100,5 +101,6 @@ go_test(
         "@org_golang_google_grpc//status",
         "@org_golang_x_exp//rand",
         "@org_uber_go_zap//:zap",
+        "@org_uber_go_zap//zaptest/observer",
     ],
 )
diff --git a/src/invocation-plane-services/ratelimiter/cmd/main.go b/src/invocation-plane-services/ratelimiter/cmd/main.go
index 7c30b8465..dcc73e977 100644
--- a/src/invocation-plane-services/ratelimiter/cmd/main.go
+++ b/src/invocation-plane-services/ratelimiter/cmd/main.go
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ func setupMetrics() {
 	go func() {
 		err := http.ListenAndServe("0.0.0.0:7776", mux)
 		if err != nil {
-
+			zap.L().Error("metrics server failed", zap.Error(err))
 		}
 	}()
 }
diff --git a/src/invocation-plane-services/ratelimiter/cmd/metrics_test.go b/src/invocation-plane-services/ratelimiter/cmd/metrics_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..32871a126
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/invocation-plane-services/ratelimiter/cmd/metrics_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/*
+SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"net"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"go.uber.org/zap/zaptest/observer"
+)
+
+// TestSetupMetricsLogsServeFailure guards against silently discarding the
+// metrics server's ListenAndServe error (NVIDIA/nvcf#540). The metrics port is
+// occupied up front so the bind fails deterministically, and the global logger
+// is swapped for an observer so the error-level log line can be asserted.
+func TestSetupMetricsLogsServeFailure(t *testing.T) {
+	ln, err := net.Listen("tcp", "0.0.0.0:7776")
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+	defer ln.Close()
+
+	observed, logs := observer.New(zap.InfoLevel)
+	restore := zap.ReplaceGlobals(zap.New(observed))
+	defer restore()
+
+	setupMetrics()
+
+	require.Eventually(t, func() bool {
+		return len(logs.FilterMessage("metrics server failed").All()) > 0
+	}, 5*time.Second, 10*time.Millisecond)
+}