diff --git a/vcsserver/hooks.py b/vcsserver/hooks.py
--- a/vcsserver/hooks.py
+++ b/vcsserver/hooks.py
@@ -143,7 +143,8 @@ def _maybe_handle_exception(writer, resu
             raise exceptions.VcsException()(*result['exception_args'])
         case _:
             if exception_class:
-                log.error('Handling hook-call exception. Got traceback from remote call:%s', exception_traceback)
+                # level here should be info/debug so the remote client wouldn't see this as a stderr message
+                log.info('ERROR: Handling hook-call exception. Got traceback from remote call:%s', exception_traceback)
                 raise Exception(
                     f"""Got remote exception "{exception_class}" with args "{result['exception_args']}" """
                 )