diff --git a/pkg/engine/lookup_func.go b/pkg/engine/lookup_func.go
index 52b6ffdaf..c5c441c14 100644
--- a/pkg/engine/lookup_func.go
+++ b/pkg/engine/lookup_func.go
@@ -73,6 +73,12 @@ func newLookupFunction(clientProvider ClientProvider) lookupFunc {
 				if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
 					// Just return an empty interface when the object was not found.
 					// That way, users can use `if not (lookup ...)` in their templates.
+					slog.Debug("lookup: resource not found",
+						slog.String("apiVersion", apiversion),
+						slog.String("kind", kind),
+						slog.String("namespace", namespace),
+						slog.String("name", name),
+					)
 					return map[string]any{}, nil
 				}
 				return map[string]any{}, err
@@ -85,6 +91,11 @@ func newLookupFunction(clientProvider ClientProvider) lookupFunc {
 			if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
 				// Just return an empty interface when the object was not found.
 				// That way, users can use `if not (lookup ...)` in their templates.
+				slog.Debug("lookup: resource list not found",
+					slog.String("apiVersion", apiversion),
+					slog.String("kind", kind),
+					slog.String("namespace", namespace),
+				)
 				return map[string]any{}, nil
 			}
 			return map[string]any{}, err