diff --git a/controllers/nginx/nginx/utils.go b/controllers/nginx/nginx/utils.go
index a4e49f737..15970ea51 100644
--- a/controllers/nginx/nginx/utils.go
+++ b/controllers/nginx/nginx/utils.go
@@ -224,9 +224,11 @@ func diff(b1, b2 []byte) (data []byte, err error) {
 
 // sysctlSomaxconn returns the value of net.core.somaxconn, i.e.
 // maximum number of connections that can be queued for acceptance
+// http://nginx.org/en/docs/http/ngx_http_core_module.html#listen
 func sysctlSomaxconn() int {
 	maxConns, err := sysctl.GetSysctl("net.core.somaxconn")
 	if err != nil || maxConns < 512 {
+		glog.Warningf("system net.core.somaxconn=%v. Using NGINX default (511)", maxConns)
 		return 511
 	}