diff --git a/proxy/process.go b/proxy/process.go
index 92fd7f4..2169cf5 100644
--- a/proxy/process.go
+++ b/proxy/process.go
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ type Process struct {
 	config ModelConfig
 	cmd    *exec.Cmd
 
+	// for p.cmd.Wait() select { ... }
+	cmdWaitChan chan error
+
 	processLogger *LogMonitor
 	proxyLogger   *LogMonitor
 
@@ -61,6 +64,7 @@ func NewProcess(ID string, healthCheckTimeout int, config ModelConfig, processLo
 		ID:                      ID,
 		config:                  config,
 		cmd:                     nil,
+		cmdWaitChan:             make(chan error, 1),
 		processLogger:           processLogger,
 		proxyLogger:             proxyLogger,
 		healthCheckTimeout:      healthCheckTimeout,
@@ -89,16 +93,17 @@ func (p *Process) swapState(expectedState, newState ProcessState) (ProcessState,
 	defer p.stateMutex.Unlock()
 
 	if p.state != expectedState {
+		p.proxyLogger.Warnf("swapState() Unexpected current state %s, expected %s", p.state, expectedState)
 		return p.state, ErrExpectedStateMismatch
 	}
 
 	if !isValidTransition(p.state, newState) {
-		p.proxyLogger.Warnf("Invalid state transition from %s to %s", p.state, newState)
+		p.proxyLogger.Warnf("swapState() Invalid state transition from %s to %s", p.state, newState)
 		return p.state, ErrInvalidStateTransition
 	}
 
-	p.proxyLogger.Debugf("State transition from %s to %s", expectedState, newState)
 	p.state = newState
+	p.proxyLogger.Debugf("swapState() State transitioned from %s to %s", expectedState, newState)
 	return p.state, nil
 }
 
@@ -179,6 +184,13 @@ func (p *Process) start() error {
 		return fmt.Errorf("start() failed: %v", err)
 	}
 
+	// Capture the exit error for later signaling
+	go func() {
+		exitErr := p.cmd.Wait()
+		p.proxyLogger.Debugf("cmd.Wait() returned for [%s] error: %v", p.ID, exitErr)
+		p.cmdWaitChan <- exitErr
+	}()
+
 	// One of three things can happen at this stage:
 	// 1. The command exits unexpectedly
 	// 2. The health check fails
@@ -222,6 +234,22 @@ func (p *Process) start() error {
 				}
 			case <-p.shutdownCtx.Done():
 				return errors.New("health check interrupted due to shutdown")
+			case exitErr := <-p.cmdWaitChan:
+				if exitErr != nil {
+					p.proxyLogger.Warnf("upstream command exited prematurely with error: %v", exitErr)
+					if curState, err := p.swapState(StateStarting, StateFailed); err != nil {
+						return fmt.Errorf("upstream command exited unexpectedly: %s AND state swap failed: %v, current state: %v", exitErr.Error(), err, curState)
+					} else {
+						return fmt.Errorf("upstream command exited unexpectedly: %s", exitErr.Error())
+					}
+				} else {
+					p.proxyLogger.Warnf("upstream command exited prematurely with no error")
+					if curState, err := p.swapState(StateStarting, StateFailed); err != nil {
+						return fmt.Errorf("upstream command exited prematurely with no error AND state swap failed: %v, current state: %v", err, curState)
+					} else {
+						return fmt.Errorf("upstream command exited prematurely with no error")
+					}
+				}
 			default:
 				if err := p.checkHealthEndpoint(healthURL); err == nil {
 					p.proxyLogger.Infof("Health check passed on %s", healthURL)
@@ -257,7 +285,6 @@ func (p *Process) start() error {
 				p.inFlightRequests.Wait()
 
 				if time.Since(p.lastRequestHandled) > maxDuration {
-
 					p.proxyLogger.Infof("Unloading model %s, TTL of %ds reached.", p.ID, p.config.UnloadAfter)
 					p.Stop()
 					return
@@ -276,6 +303,7 @@ func (p *Process) start() error {
 func (p *Process) Stop() {
 	// wait for any inflight requests before proceeding
 	p.inFlightRequests.Wait()
+	p.proxyLogger.Debugf("Stopping process [%s]", p.ID)
 
 	// calling Stop() when state is invalid is a no-op
 	if curState, err := p.swapState(StateReady, StateStopping); err != nil {
@@ -311,11 +339,6 @@ func (p *Process) stopCommand(sigtermTTL time.Duration) {
 	sigtermTimeout, cancelTimeout := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), sigtermTTL)
 	defer cancelTimeout()
 
-	sigtermNormal := make(chan error, 1)
-	go func() {
-		sigtermNormal <- p.cmd.Wait()
-	}()
-
 	if p.cmd == nil || p.cmd.Process == nil {
 		p.proxyLogger.Warnf("Process [%s] cmd or cmd.Process is nil", p.ID)
 		return
@@ -329,7 +352,11 @@ func (p *Process) stopCommand(sigtermTTL time.Duration) {
 	case <-sigtermTimeout.Done():
 		p.proxyLogger.Infof("Process [%s] timed out waiting to stop, sending KILL signal", p.ID)
 		p.cmd.Process.Kill()
-	case err := <-sigtermNormal:
+	case err := <-p.cmdWaitChan:
+		// Note: in start(), p.cmdWaitChan also has a select { ... }. That should be OK
+		// because if we make it here then the cmd has been successfully running and made it
+		// through the health check. There is a possibility that ithe cmd crashed after the health check
+		// succeeded but that's not a case llama-swap is handling for now.
 		if err != nil {
 			if errno, ok := err.(syscall.Errno); ok {
 				p.proxyLogger.Errorf("Process [%s] errno >> %v", p.ID, errno)
diff --git a/proxy/process_test.go b/proxy/process_test.go
index f192240..b516511 100644
--- a/proxy/process_test.go
+++ b/proxy/process_test.go
@@ -2,9 +2,9 @@ package proxy
 
 import (
 	"fmt"
-	"io"
 	"net/http"
 	"net/http/httptest"
+	"os"
 	"sync"
 	"testing"
 	"time"
@@ -13,16 +13,25 @@ import (
 )
 
 var (
-	discardLogger = NewLogMonitorWriter(io.Discard)
+	debugLogger = NewLogMonitorWriter(os.Stdout)
 )
 
+func init() {
+	// flip to help with debugging tests
+	if false {
+		debugLogger.SetLogLevel(LevelDebug)
+	} else {
+		debugLogger.SetLogLevel(LevelError)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestProcess_AutomaticallyStartsUpstream(t *testing.T) {
 
 	expectedMessage := "testing91931"
 	config := getTestSimpleResponderConfig(expectedMessage)
 
 	// Create a process
-	process := NewProcess("test-process", 5, config, discardLogger, discardLogger)
+	process := NewProcess("test-process", 5, config, debugLogger, debugLogger)
 	defer process.Stop()
 
 	req := httptest.NewRequest("GET", "/test", nil)
@@ -58,7 +67,7 @@ func TestProcess_WaitOnMultipleStarts(t *testing.T) {
 	expectedMessage := "testing91931"
 	config := getTestSimpleResponderConfig(expectedMessage)
 
-	process := NewProcess("test-process", 5, config, discardLogger, discardLogger)
+	process := NewProcess("test-process", 5, config, debugLogger, debugLogger)
 	defer process.Stop()
 
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
@@ -86,7 +95,7 @@ func TestProcess_BrokenModelConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		CheckEndpoint: "/health",
 	}
 
-	process := NewProcess("broken", 1, config, discardLogger, discardLogger)
+	process := NewProcess("broken", 1, config, debugLogger, debugLogger)
 
 	req := httptest.NewRequest("GET", "/", nil)
 	w := httptest.NewRecorder()
@@ -111,7 +120,7 @@ func TestProcess_UnloadAfterTTL(t *testing.T) {
 	config.UnloadAfter = 3 // seconds
 	assert.Equal(t, 3, config.UnloadAfter)
 
-	process := NewProcess("ttl_test", 2, config, discardLogger, discardLogger)
+	process := NewProcess("ttl_test", 2, config, debugLogger, debugLogger)
 	defer process.Stop()
 
 	// this should take 4 seconds
@@ -153,7 +162,7 @@ func TestProcess_LowTTLValue(t *testing.T) {
 	config.UnloadAfter = 1 // second
 	assert.Equal(t, 1, config.UnloadAfter)
 
-	process := NewProcess("ttl", 2, config, discardLogger, discardLogger)
+	process := NewProcess("ttl", 2, config, debugLogger, debugLogger)
 	defer process.Stop()
 
 	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
@@ -180,7 +189,7 @@ func TestProcess_HTTPRequestsHaveTimeToFinish(t *testing.T) {
 
 	expectedMessage := "12345"
 	config := getTestSimpleResponderConfig(expectedMessage)
-	process := NewProcess("t", 10, config, discardLogger, discardLogger)
+	process := NewProcess("t", 10, config, debugLogger, debugLogger)
 	defer process.Stop()
 
 	results := map[string]string{
@@ -257,7 +266,7 @@ func TestProcess_SwapState(t *testing.T) {
 
 	for _, test := range tests {
 		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			p := NewProcess("test", 10, getTestSimpleResponderConfig("test"), discardLogger, discardLogger)
+			p := NewProcess("test", 10, getTestSimpleResponderConfig("test"), debugLogger, debugLogger)
 			p.state = test.currentState
 
 			resultState, err := p.swapState(test.expectedState, test.newState)
@@ -290,7 +299,7 @@ func TestProcess_ShutdownInterruptsHealthCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	config.Proxy = "http://localhost:9998/test"
 
 	healthCheckTTLSeconds := 30
-	process := NewProcess("test-process", healthCheckTTLSeconds, config, discardLogger, discardLogger)
+	process := NewProcess("test-process", healthCheckTTLSeconds, config, debugLogger, debugLogger)
 
 	// make it a lot faster
 	process.healthCheckLoopInterval = time.Second
@@ -311,3 +320,23 @@ func TestProcess_ShutdownInterruptsHealthCheck(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "health check interrupted due to shutdown")
 	assert.Equal(t, StateShutdown, process.CurrentState())
 }
+
+func TestProcess_ExitInterruptsHealthCheck(t *testing.T) {
+	if testing.Short() {
+		t.Skip("skipping Exit Interrupts Health Check test")
+	}
+
+	// should run and exit but interrupt the long checkHealthTimeout
+	checkHealthTimeout := 5
+	config := ModelConfig{
+		Cmd:           "sleep 1",
+		Proxy:         "http://127.0.0.1:9913",
+		CheckEndpoint: "/health",
+	}
+
+	process := NewProcess("sleepy", checkHealthTimeout, config, debugLogger, debugLogger)
+	process.healthCheckLoopInterval = time.Second // make it faster
+	err := process.start()
+	assert.Equal(t, "upstream command exited prematurely with no error", err.Error())
+	assert.Equal(t, process.CurrentState(), StateFailed)
+}
diff --git a/proxy/proxymanager.go b/proxy/proxymanager.go
index f436d70..da7b1a9 100644
--- a/proxy/proxymanager.go
+++ b/proxy/proxymanager.go
@@ -49,14 +49,19 @@ func New(config *Config) *ProxyManager {
 	switch strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(config.LogLevel)) {
 	case "debug":
 		proxyLogger.SetLogLevel(LevelDebug)
+		upstreamLogger.SetLogLevel(LevelDebug)
 	case "info":
 		proxyLogger.SetLogLevel(LevelInfo)
+		upstreamLogger.SetLogLevel(LevelInfo)
 	case "warn":
 		proxyLogger.SetLogLevel(LevelWarn)
+		upstreamLogger.SetLogLevel(LevelWarn)
 	case "error":
 		proxyLogger.SetLogLevel(LevelError)
+		upstreamLogger.SetLogLevel(LevelError)
 	default:
 		proxyLogger.SetLogLevel(LevelInfo)
+		upstreamLogger.SetLogLevel(LevelInfo)
 	}
 
 	pm := &ProxyManager{
diff --git a/proxy/proxymanager_test.go b/proxy/proxymanager_test.go
index 15938ed..2352f48 100644
--- a/proxy/proxymanager_test.go
+++ b/proxy/proxymanager_test.go
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ func TestProxyManager_SwapProcessCorrectly(t *testing.T) {
 			"model1": getTestSimpleResponderConfig("model1"),
 			"model2": getTestSimpleResponderConfig("model2"),
 		},
+		LogLevel: "error",
 	}
 
 	proxy := New(config)
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ func TestProxyManager_SwapMultiProcess(t *testing.T) {
 		Profiles: map[string][]string{
 			"test": {model1, model2},
 		},
+		LogLevel: "error",
 	}
 
 	proxy := New(config)
@@ -103,6 +105,7 @@ func TestProxyManager_SwapMultiProcessParallelRequests(t *testing.T) {
 			"model2": getTestSimpleResponderConfig("model2"),
 			"model3": getTestSimpleResponderConfig("model3"),
 		},
+		LogLevel: "error",
 	}
 
 	proxy := New(config)
@@ -153,6 +156,7 @@ func TestProxyManager_ListModelsHandler(t *testing.T) {
 			"model2": getTestSimpleResponderConfig("model2"),
 			"model3": getTestSimpleResponderConfig("model3"),
 		},
+		LogLevel: "error",
 	}
 
 	proxy := New(config)
@@ -230,6 +234,7 @@ func TestProxyManager_ProfileNonMember(t *testing.T) {
 		Profiles: map[string][]string{
 			"test": {model1},
 		},
+		LogLevel: "error",
 	}
 
 	proxy := New(config)
@@ -278,6 +283,7 @@ func TestProxyManager_Shutdown(t *testing.T) {
 			"model2": model2Config,
 			"model3": model3Config,
 		},
+		LogLevel: "error",
 	}
 
 	proxy := New(config)
@@ -313,6 +319,7 @@ func TestProxyManager_Unload(t *testing.T) {
 		Models: map[string]ModelConfig{
 			"model1": getTestSimpleResponderConfig("model1"),
 		},
+		LogLevel: "error",
 	}
 
 	proxy := New(config)
@@ -339,6 +346,7 @@ func TestProxyManager_StripProfileSlug(t *testing.T) {
 		Models: map[string]ModelConfig{
 			"TheExpectedModel": getTestSimpleResponderConfig("TheExpectedModel"),
 		},
+		LogLevel: "error",
 	}
 
 	proxy := New(config)
@@ -365,6 +373,7 @@ func TestProxyManager_RunningEndpoint(t *testing.T) {
 		Profiles: map[string][]string{
 			"test": {"model1", "model2"},
 		},
+		LogLevel: "error",
 	}
 
 	// Define a helper struct to parse the JSON response.
@@ -472,6 +481,7 @@ func TestProxyManager_AudioTranscriptionHandler(t *testing.T) {
 		Models: map[string]ModelConfig{
 			"TheExpectedModel": getTestSimpleResponderConfig("TheExpectedModel"),
 		},
+		LogLevel: "error",
 	}
 
 	proxy := New(config)
@@ -580,6 +590,8 @@ func TestProxyManager_UseModelName(t *testing.T) {
 		Models: map[string]ModelConfig{
 			"model1": modelConfig,
 		},
+
+		LogLevel: "error",
 	}
 
 	proxy := New(config)
@@ -647,7 +659,7 @@ func TestProxyManager_CORSOptionsHandler(t *testing.T) {
 		Models: map[string]ModelConfig{
 			"model1": getTestSimpleResponderConfig("model1"),
 		},
-		LogRequests: true,
+		LogLevel: "error",
 	}
 
 	tests := []struct {