diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 140507df..78e3473e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 - Dev: Add some `pkg/utils/url.go` tests. (#525)
 - Dev: Make `IsSubdomainOf` variadic, making it easier for users of it to support multiple top level domains. (#526)
 - Dev: Use logger for skipping url message instead of fmt. (#554)
+- Dev: Improve YoutTube resolver initialization logging. (#556)
 
 ## 2.0.2
 
diff --git a/internal/resolvers/youtube/initialize.go b/internal/resolvers/youtube/initialize.go
index 1c2e48bd..12b33831 100644
--- a/internal/resolvers/youtube/initialize.go
+++ b/internal/resolvers/youtube/initialize.go
@@ -55,9 +55,15 @@ func NewYouTubeVideoResolvers(ctx context.Context, cfg config.APIConfig, pool db
 func Initialize(ctx context.Context, cfg config.APIConfig, pool db.Pool, resolvers *[]resolver.Resolver) {
 	log := logger.FromContext(ctx)
 
+	if cfg.YoutubeApiKey == "" {
+		log.Warnw("[Config] youtube-api-key missing, won't do special responses for YouTube")
+		return
+
+	}
+
 	youtubeClient, err := youtubeAPI.NewService(ctx, option.WithAPIKey(cfg.YoutubeApiKey))
 	if err != nil {
-		log.Warnw("[Config] youtube-api-key missing or otherwise misconfigured, won't do special responses for YouTube",
+		log.Warnw("[Config] Failed to create youtube client, won't do special responses for YouTube",
 			"error", err,
 		)
 		return
diff --git a/internal/resolvers/youtube/initialize_test.go b/internal/resolvers/youtube/initialize_test.go
index 38e2d261..cb6bb755 100644
--- a/internal/resolvers/youtube/initialize_test.go
+++ b/internal/resolvers/youtube/initialize_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,10 @@ func TestInitialize(t *testing.T) {
 	pool, err := pgxmock.NewPool()
 	c.Assert(err, qt.IsNil)
 
+	// google.golang.org/api/youtube/v3 automatically
+	// uses this environment variable to initialize clients
+	c.Unsetenv("GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS")
+
 	c.Run("No YouTube API key", func(c *qt.C) {
 		cfg := config.APIConfig{
 			YoutubeApiKey: "",