diff --git a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/steps/RuntimeConfigSetupBuildStep.java b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/steps/RuntimeConfigSetupBuildStep.java
index ef5fcb0467473..882a3fb262790 100644
--- a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/steps/RuntimeConfigSetupBuildStep.java
+++ b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/steps/RuntimeConfigSetupBuildStep.java
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 import io.quarkus.gizmo.ClassCreator;
 import io.quarkus.gizmo.ClassOutput;
 import io.quarkus.gizmo.MethodCreator;
+import io.quarkus.gizmo.MethodDescriptor;
 import io.quarkus.runtime.StartupContext;
 import io.quarkus.runtime.StartupTask;
 
@@ -41,6 +42,8 @@ void setupRuntimeConfig(
                         method.getMethodParam(0), method.load("RuntimeConfigSetupBuildStep.setupRuntimeConfig"));
 
                 method.invokeStaticMethod(C_CREATE_RUN_TIME_CONFIG);
+                method.invokeStaticMethod(MethodDescriptor.ofMethod("io.quarkus.runtime.ApplicationLifecycleManager",
+                        "setConfigSetupCompleted", void.class, boolean.class), method.load(true));
                 method.returnValue(null);
             }
         }
diff --git a/core/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/runtime/ApplicationLifecycleManager.java b/core/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/runtime/ApplicationLifecycleManager.java
index 75bf5410976c3..b956bd83b063b 100644
--- a/core/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/runtime/ApplicationLifecycleManager.java
+++ b/core/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/runtime/ApplicationLifecycleManager.java
@@ -81,6 +81,9 @@ private ApplicationLifecycleManager() {
     private static ShutdownHookThread shutdownHookThread;
 
     private static int exitCode = -1;
+    // this is used to determine if the config setup has completed to determine if we can use logs or not for error
+    // reporting in early crashes. Its value is set by io.quarkus.deployment.steps.RuntimeConfigSetup#deploy
+    private static boolean configSetupCompleted;
     private static volatile boolean shutdownRequested;
     private static volatile Application currentApplication;
     private static boolean vmShuttingDown;
@@ -205,8 +208,12 @@ public static void run(Application application, Class<? extends QuarkusApplicati
                         && !StringUtil.isNullOrEmpty(rootCause.getMessage())) {
                     System.err.println(rootCause.getMessage());
                 } else {
-                    applicationLogger.errorv(e, "Failed to start application");
-                    ensureConsoleLogsDrained();
+                    if (configSetupCompleted) {
+                        applicationLogger.errorv(e, "Failed to start application");
+                        ensureConsoleLogsDrained();
+                    } else {
+                        e.printStackTrace();
+                    }
                 }
             }
             stateLock.lock();
@@ -241,6 +248,14 @@ public static void run(Application application, Class<? extends QuarkusApplicati
         (exitCodeHandler == null ? defaultExitCodeHandler : exitCodeHandler).accept(getExitCode(), null); //this may not be called if shutdown was initiated by a signal
     }
 
+    /**
+     * This method is only meant to be used by {@code io.quarkus.deployment.steps.RuntimeConfigSetup#deploy}
+     */
+    @SuppressWarnings("unused")
+    public static void setConfigSetupCompleted(boolean configSetupCompleted) {
+        ApplicationLifecycleManager.configSetupCompleted = configSetupCompleted;
+    }
+
     // this is needed only when async console logging is enabled
     private static void ensureConsoleLogsDrained() {
         AsyncHandler asyncHandler = null;