diff --git a/src/slurmd_ops.py b/src/slurmd_ops.py
index dcab81b..7b3a1b8 100644
--- a/src/slurmd_ops.py
+++ b/src/slurmd_ops.py
@@ -173,7 +173,12 @@ def _install_nhc_from_tarball(self) -> bool:
         base_path.mkdir()
 
         cmd = f"tar --extract --directory {base_path} --file lbnl-nhc-1.4.3.tar.gz".split()
-        subprocess.run(cmd)
+        try:
+            result = subprocess.check_output(cmd, stderr=subprocess.STDOUT, text=True)
+            logger.debug(result)
+        except subprocess.CalledProcessError as e:
+            logger.error("failed to extract NHC using tar. reason:\n%s", e.stdout)
+            return False
 
         full_path = base_path / os.listdir(base_path)[0]