diff --git a/geostore/populate_catalog/task.py b/geostore/populate_catalog/task.py
index 0e83e8592..fd211480f 100644
--- a/geostore/populate_catalog/task.py
+++ b/geostore/populate_catalog/task.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@
 from ..api_keys import EVENT_KEY
 from ..aws_keys import BODY_KEY
 from ..boto3_config import CONFIG
-from ..logging_keys import GIT_COMMIT
+from ..logging_keys import GIT_COMMIT, LOG_MESSAGE_LAMBDA_FAILURE
 from ..parameter_store import ParameterName, get_param
 from ..pystac_io_methods import S3StacIO
 from ..resources import Resource
@@ -74,27 +74,39 @@ def handle_message(metadata_key: str) -> None:
 
     storage_bucket_path = f"{S3_URL_PREFIX}{Resource.STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME.resource_name}"
 
-    results = S3_CLIENT.list_objects(
-        Bucket=Resource.STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME.resource_name, Prefix=CATALOG_FILENAME
-    )
+    # there could be a myriad of problems preventing catalog from being populated
+    # hence a rather broad try except exception clause is used
+    # an exception thrown here indicates stuck message(s) in the sqs queue
+    # logging is monitored by elasticsearch and alerting is set up to notify the team of a problem
+    try:
+        dataset_metadata = read_file(f"{storage_bucket_path}/{metadata_key}")
+        assert isinstance(dataset_metadata, (Catalog, Collection))
 
-    # create root catalog if it doesn't exist
-    if CONTENTS_KEY in results:
-        root_catalog = Catalog.from_file(f"{storage_bucket_path}/{CATALOG_FILENAME}")
-
-    else:
-        root_catalog = Catalog(
-            id=ROOT_CATALOG_ID,
-            title=ROOT_CATALOG_TITLE,
-            description=ROOT_CATALOG_DESCRIPTION,
-            catalog_type=CatalogType.SELF_CONTAINED,
+        results = S3_CLIENT.list_objects(
+            Bucket=Resource.STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME.resource_name, Prefix=CATALOG_FILENAME
         )
-        root_catalog.set_self_href(f"{storage_bucket_path}/{CATALOG_FILENAME}")
 
-    dataset_metadata = read_file(f"{storage_bucket_path}/{metadata_key}")
-    assert isinstance(dataset_metadata, (Catalog, Collection))
+        # create root catalog if it doesn't exist
+        if CONTENTS_KEY in results:
+            root_catalog = Catalog.from_file(f"{storage_bucket_path}/{CATALOG_FILENAME}")
+
+        else:
+            root_catalog = Catalog(
+                id=ROOT_CATALOG_ID,
+                title=ROOT_CATALOG_TITLE,
+                description=ROOT_CATALOG_DESCRIPTION,
+                catalog_type=CatalogType.SELF_CONTAINED,
+            )
+            root_catalog.set_self_href(f"{storage_bucket_path}/{CATALOG_FILENAME}")
 
-    if root_catalog.get_child(dataset_metadata.id) is None:
-        root_catalog.add_child(child=dataset_metadata, strategy=GeostoreSTACLayoutStrategy())
+        if root_catalog.get_child(dataset_metadata.id) is None:
+            root_catalog.add_child(child=dataset_metadata, strategy=GeostoreSTACLayoutStrategy())
 
-    root_catalog.save(catalog_type=CatalogType.SELF_CONTAINED)
+        root_catalog.save(catalog_type=CatalogType.SELF_CONTAINED)
+
+    except Exception as error:
+        LOGGER.warning(
+            f"{LOG_MESSAGE_LAMBDA_FAILURE}: Unable to populate catalog due to “{error}”",
+            extra={GIT_COMMIT: get_param(ParameterName.GIT_COMMIT)},
+        )
+        raise
diff --git a/tests/test_populate_catalog.py b/tests/test_populate_catalog.py
index 0f038e69d..0a7744b13 100644
--- a/tests/test_populate_catalog.py
+++ b/tests/test_populate_catalog.py
@@ -2,15 +2,17 @@
 from datetime import timedelta
 from json import load
 from time import sleep
+from unittest.mock import MagicMock, patch
 from uuid import uuid4
 
 import smart_open
 from mypy_boto3_s3 import S3Client
 from mypy_boto3_sqs import SQSServiceResource
-from pytest import mark
+from pytest import mark, raises
 from pytest_subtests import SubTests
 
 from geostore.aws_keys import BODY_KEY
+from geostore.logging_keys import GIT_COMMIT, LOG_MESSAGE_LAMBDA_FAILURE
 from geostore.parameter_store import ParameterName, get_param
 from geostore.populate_catalog.task import (
     CATALOG_FILENAME,
@@ -18,6 +20,7 @@
     ROOT_CATALOG_DESCRIPTION,
     ROOT_CATALOG_ID,
     ROOT_CATALOG_TITLE,
+    handle_message,
     lambda_handler,
 )
 from geostore.resources import Resource
@@ -40,9 +43,9 @@
 from geostore.types import JsonList
 from geostore.update_root_catalog.task import SQS_MESSAGE_GROUP_ID
 
-from .aws_utils import Dataset, S3Object, any_lambda_context, delete_s3_key
+from .aws_utils import Dataset, S3Object, any_lambda_context, any_s3_url, delete_s3_key
 from .file_utils import json_dict_to_file_object
-from .general_generators import any_safe_filename
+from .general_generators import any_error_message, any_exception_class, any_safe_filename
 from .stac_generators import any_dataset_version_id
 from .stac_objects import (
     MINIMAL_VALID_STAC_CATALOG_OBJECT,
@@ -652,3 +655,25 @@ def should_add_link_to_root_catalog_in_series(
                 expected_root_catalog_links
                 == load(smart_open.open(root_url, mode="rb"))[STAC_LINKS_KEY]
             )
+
+
+@mark.infrastructure
+@patch("geostore.populate_catalog.task.read_file")
+def should_log_error_message_when_an_exception_is_raised_trying_to_update_catalog(
+    pystac_read_file_mock: MagicMock,
+) -> None:
+    exception_class = any_exception_class()
+    error_message = any_error_message()
+    error = exception_class(error_message)
+    expected_message = f"{LOG_MESSAGE_LAMBDA_FAILURE}: Unable to populate catalog due to “{error}”"
+
+    pystac_read_file_mock.side_effect = error
+
+    with patch("geostore.populate_catalog.task.LOGGER.warning") as logger_mock, raises(
+        exception_class
+    ):
+        handle_message(any_s3_url())
+
+    logger_mock.assert_any_call(
+        expected_message, extra={GIT_COMMIT: get_param(ParameterName.GIT_COMMIT)}
+    )