diff --git a/servicetalk-concurrent-api/src/main/java/io/servicetalk/concurrent/api/DefaultAsyncContextProvider.java b/servicetalk-concurrent-api/src/main/java/io/servicetalk/concurrent/api/DefaultAsyncContextProvider.java
index af79af7144..3752dfa278 100644
--- a/servicetalk-concurrent-api/src/main/java/io/servicetalk/concurrent/api/DefaultAsyncContextProvider.java
+++ b/servicetalk-concurrent-api/src/main/java/io/servicetalk/concurrent/api/DefaultAsyncContextProvider.java
@@ -41,9 +41,19 @@ class DefaultAsyncContextProvider implements AsyncContextProvider {
             withInitial(DefaultAsyncContextProvider::newContextMap);
 
     private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(DefaultAsyncContextProvider.class);
-    private static final boolean NO_DEBUG_LOGGING = !LOGGER.isDebugEnabled();
-
     static final AsyncContextProvider INSTANCE = new DefaultAsyncContextProvider();
+    private static final boolean NO_DEBUG_LOGGING;
+
+
+    static {
+        boolean noDebugLogging = true;
+        try {
+            noDebugLogging = !LOGGER.isDebugEnabled();
+        } catch (Exception ex) {
+            System.err.println("Couldn't evaluate debug logging: defaulting to false. Cause:\n" + ex);
+        }
+        NO_DEBUG_LOGGING = noDebugLogging;
+    }
 
     protected DefaultAsyncContextProvider() {
     }
diff --git a/servicetalk-log4j2-mdc-utils/src/test/java/io/servicetalk/log4j2/mdc/utils/ServiceTalkThreadContextMapTest.java b/servicetalk-log4j2-mdc-utils/src/test/java/io/servicetalk/log4j2/mdc/utils/ServiceTalkThreadContextMapTest.java
index 738cdaed95..4ac761f6f5 100644
--- a/servicetalk-log4j2-mdc-utils/src/test/java/io/servicetalk/log4j2/mdc/utils/ServiceTalkThreadContextMapTest.java
+++ b/servicetalk-log4j2-mdc-utils/src/test/java/io/servicetalk/log4j2/mdc/utils/ServiceTalkThreadContextMapTest.java
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ class ServiceTalkThreadContextMapTest {
 
     @BeforeEach
     void verifyMDCSetup() {
+        logger.info("Attempting to log");
         assumeTrue(ThreadContext.getThreadContextMap() instanceof ServiceTalkThreadContextMap);
     }
 
diff --git a/servicetalk-log4j2-mdc-utils/src/test/resources/log4j2-test.xml b/servicetalk-log4j2-mdc-utils/src/test/resources/log4j2-test.xml
index 251903d9b8..41464d08cd 100644
--- a/servicetalk-log4j2-mdc-utils/src/test/resources/log4j2-test.xml
+++ b/servicetalk-log4j2-mdc-utils/src/test/resources/log4j2-test.xml
@@ -20,6 +20,13 @@
       <PatternLayout pattern="%d %30t a=%X{a} b=%X{b} c=%X{c} [%-5level] %-30logger{1} - %msg%n"/>
     </Console>
   </Appenders>
+
+<!--  We add the DynamicThresholdFilter to surface cyclical dependencies between MDC logging and the AsyncContext -->
+  <DynamicThresholdFilter key="USER_ROLE" defaultThreshold="ERROR" onMatch="ACCEPT" onMismatch="DENY">
+    <KeyValuePair key="ADMIN" value="INFO"/>
+    <KeyValuePair key="GUEST" value="DEBUG"/>
+  </DynamicThresholdFilter>
+
   <Loggers>
     <Logger name="io.netty" level="info"/>
     <Root level="debug">