diff --git a/qa/smoke-test-http/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/http/BlockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCase.java b/qa/smoke-test-http/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/http/BlockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCase.java
index a85ac9aefe694..c7e3a5b1c9a77 100644
--- a/qa/smoke-test-http/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/http/BlockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCase.java
+++ b/qa/smoke-test-http/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/http/BlockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCase.java
@@ -9,10 +9,12 @@
 
 package org.elasticsearch.http;
 
+import org.elasticsearch.ElasticsearchException;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.support.PlainActionFuture;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Cancellable;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Request;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Response;
+import org.elasticsearch.common.Strings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Setting;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.settings.Settings;
 import org.elasticsearch.common.util.CollectionUtils;
@@ -29,6 +31,8 @@
 import org.elasticsearch.index.shard.IndexShardTestCase;
 import org.elasticsearch.index.translog.TranslogStats;
 import org.elasticsearch.indices.IndicesService;
+import org.elasticsearch.logging.LogManager;
+import org.elasticsearch.logging.Logger;
 import org.elasticsearch.plugins.EnginePlugin;
 import org.elasticsearch.plugins.Plugin;
 import org.elasticsearch.tasks.Task;
@@ -141,6 +145,12 @@ public List<Setting<?>> getSettings() {
 
     private static class SearcherBlockingEngine extends ReadOnlyEngine {
 
+        // using a specialized logger for this case because and "logger" means "Engine#logger"
+        // (relates investigation into https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/88201)
+        private static final Logger blockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCaseLogger = LogManager.getLogger(
+            BlockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCase.class
+        );
+
         final Semaphore searcherBlock = new Semaphore(1);
 
         SearcherBlockingEngine(EngineConfig config) {
@@ -149,12 +159,36 @@ private static class SearcherBlockingEngine extends ReadOnlyEngine {
 
         @Override
         public Searcher acquireSearcher(String source, SearcherScope scope, Function<Searcher, Searcher> wrapper) throws EngineException {
+            if (blockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCaseLogger.isDebugEnabled()) {
+                blockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCaseLogger.debug(
+                    Strings.format(
+                        "in acquireSearcher for shard [%s] on thread [%s], availablePermits=%d",
+                        config().getShardId(),
+                        Thread.currentThread().getName(),
+                        searcherBlock.availablePermits()
+                    ),
+                    new ElasticsearchException("stack trace")
+                );
+            }
+
             try {
                 searcherBlock.acquire();
             } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                 throw new AssertionError(e);
             }
             searcherBlock.release();
+
+            if (blockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCaseLogger.isDebugEnabled()) {
+                blockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCaseLogger.debug(
+                    Strings.format(
+                        "continuing in acquireSearcher for shard [%s] on thread [%s], availablePermits=%d",
+                        config().getShardId(),
+                        Thread.currentThread().getName(),
+                        searcherBlock.availablePermits()
+                    )
+                );
+            }
+
             return super.acquireSearcher(source, scope, wrapper);
         }
     }
diff --git a/qa/smoke-test-http/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/http/IndicesSegmentsRestCancellationIT.java b/qa/smoke-test-http/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/http/IndicesSegmentsRestCancellationIT.java
index a90b04d54649c..92fde6d7765cc 100644
--- a/qa/smoke-test-http/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/http/IndicesSegmentsRestCancellationIT.java
+++ b/qa/smoke-test-http/src/javaRestTest/java/org/elasticsearch/http/IndicesSegmentsRestCancellationIT.java
@@ -12,12 +12,23 @@
 import org.apache.http.client.methods.HttpGet;
 import org.elasticsearch.action.admin.indices.segments.IndicesSegmentsAction;
 import org.elasticsearch.client.Request;
+import org.elasticsearch.test.junit.annotations.TestIssueLogging;
 
 public class IndicesSegmentsRestCancellationIT extends BlockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCase {
+    @TestIssueLogging(
+        issueUrl = "https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/88201",
+        value = "org.elasticsearch.http.BlockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCase:DEBUG"
+            + ",org.elasticsearch.transport.TransportService:TRACE"
+    )
     public void testIndicesSegmentsRestCancellation() throws Exception {
         runTest(new Request(HttpGet.METHOD_NAME, "/_segments"), IndicesSegmentsAction.NAME);
     }
 
+    @TestIssueLogging(
+        issueUrl = "https://github.com/elastic/elasticsearch/issues/88201",
+        value = "org.elasticsearch.http.BlockedSearcherRestCancellationTestCase:DEBUG"
+            + ",org.elasticsearch.transport.TransportService:TRACE"
+    )
     public void testCatSegmentsRestCancellation() throws Exception {
         runTest(new Request(HttpGet.METHOD_NAME, "/_cat/segments"), IndicesSegmentsAction.NAME);
     }