diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 17f0da5ec..a23fca541 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ Docs: https://docs.clawd.bot
 - Voice wake: auto-save wake words on blur/submit across iOS/Android and align limits with macOS.
 - Discord: limit autoThread mention bypass to bot-owned threads; keep ack reactions mention-gated. (#1511) Thanks @pvoo.
 - Gateway: accept null optional fields in exec approval requests. (#1511) Thanks @pvoo.
+- Sandbox: log docker image inspect failures during doctor checks. (#1548) Thanks @sweepies.
 - TUI: forward unknown slash commands (for example, `/context`) to the Gateway.
 - TUI: include Gateway slash commands in autocomplete and `/help`.
 - CLI: skip usage lines in `clawdbot models status` when provider usage is unavailable.
diff --git a/src/agents/sandbox-docker-image-check-errors.test.ts b/src/agents/sandbox-docker-image-check-errors.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0201cc682
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/agents/sandbox-docker-image-check-errors.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import { describe, expect, it } from "vitest";
+
+import { resolveDockerImageInspectResult } from "./sandbox/docker.js";
+
+describe("ensureDockerImage", () => {
+  it("surfaces inspect failures with detail", async () => {
+    const result = resolveDockerImageInspectResult("custom-sandbox:latest", {
+      stdout: "",
+      stderr: "permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket",
+      code: 1,
+    });
+
+    expect(result).toEqual({
+      exists: false,
+      error:
+        "Failed to inspect sandbox image: permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket",
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/agents/sandbox/docker.ts b/src/agents/sandbox/docker.ts
index 3bc2cc5a0..5644fb4f7 100644
--- a/src/agents/sandbox/docker.ts
+++ b/src/agents/sandbox/docker.ts
@@ -46,16 +46,25 @@ export async function readDockerPort(containerName: string, port: number) {
   return Number.isFinite(mapped) ? mapped : null;
 }
 
+export function resolveDockerImageInspectResult(
+  image: string,
+  result: { stdout: string; stderr: string; code: number },
+): { exists: boolean; error?: string } {
+  if (result.code === 0) return { exists: true };
+  const stderr = result.stderr.trim();
+  if (/no such image/i.test(stderr)) return { exists: false };
+  const stdout = result.stdout.trim();
+  const detail = stderr || stdout || `docker image inspect ${image} failed (exit ${result.code})`;
+  return { exists: false, error: `Failed to inspect sandbox image: ${detail}` };
+}
+
 async function dockerImageExists(image: string) {
   const result = await execDocker(["image", "inspect", image], {
     allowFailure: true,
   });
-  if (result.code === 0) return true;
-  const stderr = result.stderr.trim();
-  if (stderr.includes("No such image")) {
-    return false;
-  }
-  throw new Error(`Failed to inspect sandbox image: ${stderr}`);
+  const resolved = resolveDockerImageInspectResult(image, result);
+  if (resolved.error) throw new Error(resolved.error);
+  return resolved.exists;
 }
 
 export async function ensureDockerImage(image: string) {
diff --git a/src/commands/doctor-sandbox-image-inspect-errors.test.ts b/src/commands/doctor-sandbox-image-inspect-errors.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0b05290b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/commands/doctor-sandbox-image-inspect-errors.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import { beforeEach, describe, expect, it, vi } from "vitest";
+
+import type { ClawdbotConfig } from "../config/config.js";
+import type { RuntimeEnv } from "../runtime.js";
+import type { DoctorPrompter } from "./doctor-prompter.js";
+
+const runExec = vi.fn();
+const runCommandWithTimeout = vi.fn();
+const note = vi.fn();
+
+vi.mock("../process/exec.js", () => ({
+  runExec,
+  runCommandWithTimeout,
+}));
+vi.mock("../terminal/note.js", () => ({
+  note,
+}));
+
+describe("maybeRepairSandboxImages", () => {
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    runExec.mockReset();
+    runCommandWithTimeout.mockReset();
+    note.mockReset();
+  });
+
+  it("logs docker inspect errors and continues", async () => {
+    runExec.mockImplementation(async (_command: string, args: string[]) => {
+      if (args[0] === "version") return { stdout: "26.0.0", stderr: "" };
+      if (args[0] === "image" && args[1] === "inspect") {
+        const err = new Error(
+          "permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket",
+        ) as Error & { stderr?: string };
+        err.stderr = "permission denied while trying to connect to the Docker daemon socket";
+        throw err;
+      }
+      return { stdout: "", stderr: "" };
+    });
+
+    const { maybeRepairSandboxImages } = await import("./doctor-sandbox.js");
+    const cfg = {
+      agents: {
+        defaults: {
+          sandbox: {
+            mode: "all",
+            docker: { image: "custom-sandbox:latest" },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    } satisfies ClawdbotConfig;
+
+    const runtime = { log: vi.fn(), error: vi.fn() } as RuntimeEnv;
+    const prompter = { confirmSkipInNonInteractive: vi.fn() } as DoctorPrompter;
+
+    await expect(maybeRepairSandboxImages(cfg, runtime, prompter)).resolves.toBe(cfg);
+    expect(note).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
+      expect.stringContaining("Unable to inspect sandbox base image (custom-sandbox:latest)"),
+      "Sandbox",
+    );
+    expect(runCommandWithTimeout).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/commands/doctor-sandbox.ts b/src/commands/doctor-sandbox.ts
index d46af4ca4..2b34ffb55 100644
--- a/src/commands/doctor-sandbox.ts
+++ b/src/commands/doctor-sandbox.ts
@@ -79,11 +79,14 @@ async function dockerImageExists(image: string): Promise<boolean> {
     await runExec("docker", ["image", "inspect", image], { timeoutMs: 5_000 });
     return true;
   } catch (error: any) {
-    const stderr = error?.stderr || error?.message || "";
-    if (String(stderr).includes("No such image")) {
+    const stderr = typeof error?.stderr === "string" ? error.stderr.trim() : "";
+    const stdout = typeof error?.stdout === "string" ? error.stdout.trim() : "";
+    const message = typeof error?.message === "string" ? error.message.trim() : "";
+    const detail = stderr || stdout || message;
+    if (/no such image/i.test(detail)) {
       return false;
     }
-    throw error;
+    throw new Error(`Failed to inspect sandbox image: ${detail || "unknown error"}`);
   }
 }
 
@@ -147,7 +150,17 @@ async function handleMissingSandboxImage(
   runtime: RuntimeEnv,
   prompter: DoctorPrompter,
 ) {
-  const exists = await dockerImageExists(params.image);
+  let exists = false;
+  try {
+    exists = await dockerImageExists(params.image);
+  } catch (error: any) {
+    const stderr = typeof error?.stderr === "string" ? error.stderr.trim() : "";
+    const stdout = typeof error?.stdout === "string" ? error.stdout.trim() : "";
+    const message = typeof error?.message === "string" ? error.message.trim() : "";
+    const detail = stderr || stdout || message || "unknown error";
+    note(`Unable to inspect sandbox ${params.label} image (${params.image}): ${detail}`, "Sandbox");
+    return;
+  }
   if (exists) return;
 
   const buildHint = params.buildScript