diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 4e4b83d17..401874da7 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -458,7 +458,8 @@ BENCHMARKS_RUNC      ?= true
 BENCHMARKS_FILTER    ?= .
 BENCHMARKS_OPTIONS   ?= -test.benchtime=30s
 BENCHMARKS_ARGS      ?= -test.v -test.bench=$(BENCHMARKS_FILTER) $(BENCHMARKS_OPTIONS)
-BENCHMARKS_PROFILE   ?= -pprof-dir=/tmp/profile -pprof-cpu -pprof-heap -pprof-block -pprof-mutex
+BENCHMARKS_PROFILE   ?=
+# Example: BENCHMARKS_PROFILE='-pprof-dir=/tmp/profile -pprof-cpu -pprof-heap -pprof-block -pprof-mutex'
 
 init-benchmark-table: ## Initializes a BigQuery table with the benchmark schema.
 	@$(call run,//tools/parsers:parser,init --project=$(BENCHMARKS_PROJECT) --dataset=$(BENCHMARKS_DATASET) --table=$(BENCHMARKS_TABLE))
diff --git a/pkg/test/dockerutil/dockerutil.go b/pkg/test/dockerutil/dockerutil.go
index c8710e786..5e08a13bc 100644
--- a/pkg/test/dockerutil/dockerutil.go
+++ b/pkg/test/dockerutil/dockerutil.go
@@ -124,6 +124,32 @@ func RuntimePath() (string, error) {
 	return p, nil
 }
 
+// RuntimeArgs returns the arguments for the current runtime.
+func RuntimeArgs() ([]string, error) {
+	rs, err := runtimeMap()
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	argsAny, ok := rs["runtimeArgs"]
+	if !ok {
+		// The runtime does not have any arguments.
+		return nil, nil
+	}
+	argsAnySlice, ok := argsAny.([]any)
+	if !ok {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("runtime arguments should be a list of strings, got: %q (type: %T)", argsAny, argsAny)
+	}
+	args := make([]string, 0, len(argsAnySlice))
+	for i, argAny := range argsAnySlice {
+		arg, ok := argAny.(string)
+		if !ok {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("runtime arguments should be a list of strings, got: %q (index %d is %q which has unexpected type %T)", argsAny, i, argAny, argAny)
+		}
+		args = append(args, arg)
+	}
+	return args, nil
+}
+
 // IsGVisorRuntime returns whether the default container runtime used by
 // `dockerutil` is gVisor-based or not.
 func IsGVisorRuntime(ctx context.Context, t *testing.T) (bool, error) {
diff --git a/pkg/test/dockerutil/profile.go b/pkg/test/dockerutil/profile.go
index 2cb3a54c7..cdf58ceaf 100644
--- a/pkg/test/dockerutil/profile.go
+++ b/pkg/test/dockerutil/profile.go
@@ -15,11 +15,14 @@
 package dockerutil
 
 import (
+	"bytes"
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"os/exec"
 	"path/filepath"
+	"slices"
 	"time"
 
 	"golang.org/x/sys/unix"
@@ -32,10 +35,12 @@ import (
 
 // profile is for running profiles with 'runsc debug'.
 type profile struct {
-	BasePath string
-	Types    []string
-	Duration time.Duration
-	cmd      *exec.Cmd
+	BasePath    string
+	Types       []string
+	Duration    time.Duration
+	errorBuf    bytes.Buffer
+	isProfiling bool
+	cmd         *exec.Cmd
 }
 
 // profileInit initializes a profile object, if required.
@@ -86,13 +91,15 @@ func (p *profile) createProcess(c *Container) error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to get root directory: %v", err)
 	}
 
-	// Format is `runsc --root=rootDir debug --profile-*=file --duration=24h containerID`.
-	args := []string{fmt.Sprintf("--root=%s", rootDir), "debug"}
+	// Format is `runsc --debug-log=/dev/stderr --root=rootDir debug --profile-*=file --duration=24h containerID`.
+	args := []string{"--debug-log=/dev/stderr", fmt.Sprintf("--root=%s", rootDir), "debug"}
 	for _, profileArg := range p.Types {
+		p.isProfiling = true
 		outputPath := filepath.Join(p.BasePath, fmt.Sprintf("%s.pprof", profileArg))
 		args = append(args, fmt.Sprintf("--profile-%s=%s", profileArg, outputPath))
 	}
 	if *trace {
+		p.isProfiling = true
 		args = append(args, fmt.Sprintf("--trace=%s", filepath.Join(p.BasePath, "sentry.trace")))
 	}
 	args = append(args, fmt.Sprintf("--duration=%s", p.Duration)) // Or until container exits.
@@ -109,7 +116,7 @@ func (p *profile) createProcess(c *Container) error {
 		time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
 	}
 	p.cmd = exec.Command(path, args...)
-	p.cmd.Stderr = os.Stderr // Pass through errors.
+	p.cmd.Stderr = &p.errorBuf
 	if err := p.cmd.Start(); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("start process failed: %v", err)
 	}
@@ -143,6 +150,28 @@ func (p *profile) Start(c *Container) error {
 func (p *profile) Stop(c *Container) error {
 	killErr := p.killProcess()
 	waitErr := p.waitProcess()
+	if waitErr != nil || killErr != nil {
+		if output := p.errorBuf.String(); output != "" {
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "\nprofile subcommand output:\n%s\n", output)
+			p.errorBuf.Reset()
+		}
+		if p.isProfiling {
+			runtimeArgs, err := RuntimeArgs()
+			if err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("profiling failed (%v / %v) and we failed to get runtime args (%v); perhaps the runtime is not configured for profiling", killErr, waitErr, err)
+			}
+			profileEnabled := false
+			for _, possibleFlag := range []string{"-profile", "--profile", "-profile=true", "--profile=true"} {
+				if slices.Contains(runtimeArgs, possibleFlag) {
+					profileEnabled = true
+					break
+				}
+			}
+			if !profileEnabled {
+				return errors.New("runtime does not have profiling enabled, profiling will not work; either disable profiling (e.g. BENCHMARKS_PROFILE='') or add --profile=true to runtime flags")
+			}
+		}
+	}
 	if waitErr != nil && killErr != nil {
 		return killErr
 	}