diff --git a/spring-kafka/src/main/java/org/springframework/kafka/listener/DefaultErrorHandler.java b/spring-kafka/src/main/java/org/springframework/kafka/listener/DefaultErrorHandler.java
index 6ffb038bf5..53d69ab04c 100644
--- a/spring-kafka/src/main/java/org/springframework/kafka/listener/DefaultErrorHandler.java
+++ b/spring-kafka/src/main/java/org/springframework/kafka/listener/DefaultErrorHandler.java
@@ -157,7 +157,12 @@ public boolean handleOne(Exception thrownException, ConsumerRecord<?, ?> record,
 			return getFailureTracker().recovered(record, thrownException, container, consumer);
 		}
 		catch (Exception ex) {
-			logger.error(ex, "Failed to handle " + KafkaUtils.format(record) + " with " + thrownException);
+			if (SeekUtils.isBackoffException(thrownException)) {
+				this.logger.debug(ex, "Failed to handle " + KafkaUtils.format(record) + " with " + thrownException);
+			}
+			else {
+				this.logger.error(ex, "Failed to handle " + KafkaUtils.format(record) + " with " + thrownException);
+			}
 			return false;
 		}
 	}