diff --git a/internal/binarylog/sink.go b/internal/binarylog/sink.go
index 7d7a3056b71e..207a5779f673 100644
--- a/internal/binarylog/sink.go
+++ b/internal/binarylog/sink.go
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ func (ws *writerSink) Write(e *pb.GrpcLogEntry) error {
 	b, err := proto.Marshal(e)
 	if err != nil {
 		grpclogLogger.Infof("binary logging: failed to marshal proto message: %v", err)
+		return err
 	}
 	hdr := make([]byte, 4)
 	binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(hdr, uint32(len(b)))