diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/common/resourceBasedLocator.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/common/resourceBasedLocator.ts
index 9391888cf0cf..8b56b4c7b8c1 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/common/resourceBasedLocator.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/common/resourceBasedLocator.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 import { IDisposable } from '../../../../common/types';
 import { createDeferred, Deferred } from '../../../../common/utils/async';
 import { Disposables } from '../../../../common/utils/resourceLifecycle';
-import { traceError } from '../../../../logging';
+import { traceError, traceWarn } from '../../../../logging';
 import { arePathsSame, isVirtualWorkspace } from '../../../common/externalDependencies';
 import { getEnvPath } from '../../info/env';
 import { BasicEnvInfo, IPythonEnvsIterator, Locator, PythonLocatorQuery } from '../../locator';
@@ -36,7 +36,11 @@ export abstract class LazyResourceBasedLocator extends Locator<BasicEnvInfo> imp
     protected async activate(): Promise<void> {
         await this.ensureResourcesReady();
         // There is not need to wait for the watchers to get started.
-        this.ensureWatchersReady().ignoreErrors();
+        try {
+            this.ensureWatchersReady();
+        } catch (ex) {
+            traceWarn(`Failed to ensure watchers are ready for locator ${this.constructor.name}`, ex);
+        }
     }
 
     public async dispose(): Promise<void> {
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/fsWatchingLocator.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/fsWatchingLocator.ts
index 71bd30f7cfdc..dd7db5538565 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/fsWatchingLocator.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/lowLevel/fsWatchingLocator.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import * as path from 'path';
 import { Uri } from 'vscode';
 import { FileChangeType, watchLocationForPattern } from '../../../../common/platform/fileSystemWatcher';
 import { sleep } from '../../../../common/utils/async';
-import { traceError, traceVerbose } from '../../../../logging';
+import { traceVerbose, traceWarn } from '../../../../logging';
 import { getEnvironmentDirFromPath } from '../../../common/commonUtils';
 import {
     PythonEnvStructure,
@@ -32,13 +32,13 @@ function checkDirWatchable(dirname: string): DirUnwatchableReason {
         names = fs.readdirSync(dirname);
     } catch (err) {
         const exception = err as NodeJS.ErrnoException;
-        traceError('Reading directory to watch failed', exception);
+        traceVerbose('Reading directory failed', exception);
         if (exception.code === 'ENOENT') {
             // Treat a missing directory as unwatchable since it can lead to CPU load issues:
             // https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-python/issues/18459
             return 'directory does not exist';
         }
-        throw err; // re-throw
+        return undefined;
     }
     // The limit here is an educated guess.
     if (names.length > 200) {
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ export abstract class FSWatchingLocator extends LazyResourceBasedLocator {
             // that might be watched due to a glob are not checked.
             const unwatchable = await checkDirWatchable(root);
             if (unwatchable) {
-                traceError(`Dir "${root}" is not watchable (${unwatchable})`);
+                traceWarn(`Dir "${root}" is not watchable (${unwatchable})`);
                 return undefined;
             }
             return root;
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/environmentManagers/pixi.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/environmentManagers/pixi.ts
index 7aa1d55acd2c..d7baa4b53f6e 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/environmentManagers/pixi.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/common/environmentManagers/pixi.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import { OSType, getOSType, getUserHomeDir } from '../../../common/utils/platfor
 import { exec, getPythonSetting, onDidChangePythonSetting, pathExists, pathExistsSync } from '../externalDependencies';
 import { cache } from '../../../common/utils/decorators';
 import { isTestExecution } from '../../../common/constants';
-import { traceError, traceVerbose, traceWarn } from '../../../logging';
+import { traceVerbose, traceWarn } from '../../../logging';
 import { OUTPUT_MARKER_SCRIPT } from '../../../common/process/internal/scripts';
 
 export const PIXITOOLPATH_SETTING_KEY = 'pixiToolPath';
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ export class Pixi {
                     yield customPixiToolPath;
                 }
             } catch (ex) {
-                traceError(`Failed to get pixi setting`, ex);
+                traceWarn(`Failed to get pixi setting`, ex);
             }
 
             // Check unqualified filename, in case it's on PATH.
@@ -182,7 +182,7 @@ export class Pixi {
             const pixiInfo: PixiInfo = JSON.parse(infoOutput.stdout);
             return pixiInfo;
         } catch (error) {
-            traceError(`Failed to get pixi info for ${cwd}`, error);
+            traceWarn(`Failed to get pixi info for ${cwd}`, error);
             return undefined;
         }
     }
@@ -199,15 +199,13 @@ export class Pixi {
             if (!versionOutput || !versionOutput.stdout) {
                 return undefined;
             }
-
             const versionParts = versionOutput.stdout.split(' ');
             if (versionParts.length < 2) {
                 return undefined;
             }
-
             return versionParts[1].trim();
         } catch (error) {
-            traceError(`Failed to get pixi version`, error);
+            traceVerbose(`Failed to get pixi version`, error);
             return undefined;
         }
     }