diff --git a/bin/dbwriter b/bin/dbwriter
index 0c69678c1614b9769d6581c759f8c1a5729d8c64..691ce3ac0fdf454403f37348bb65833edf7bb517 100755
--- a/bin/dbwriter
+++ b/bin/dbwriter
@@ -66,7 +66,8 @@ logger.info("dbwriter starting up");
 heartbeat.setup(app, function(cb) {
   // ping the database to verify we're really healthy.
   db.ping(function(e) {
-    cb(e === undefined);
+    if (e) logger.error("database ping error: " + e);
+    cb(!e);
   });
 });