diff --git a/changelog/@unreleased/pr-384.v2.yml b/changelog/@unreleased/pr-384.v2.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9c520edc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/@unreleased/pr-384.v2.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+type: improvement
+improvement:
+  description: |-
+    copy logs to circle even if there's an error initializing in `before`
+  links:
+  - https://github.com/palantir/docker-compose-rule/pull/384
diff --git a/docker-compose-junit-jupiter/src/test/java/com/palantir/docker/compose/DockerComposeExtensionTest.java b/docker-compose-junit-jupiter/src/test/java/com/palantir/docker/compose/DockerComposeExtensionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2e10486b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docker-compose-junit-jupiter/src/test/java/com/palantir/docker/compose/DockerComposeExtensionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+/*
+ * (c) Copyright 2019 Palantir Technologies Inc. All rights reserved.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package com.palantir.docker.compose;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatThrownBy;
+
+import com.palantir.docker.compose.configuration.DockerComposeFiles;
+import com.palantir.docker.compose.connection.waiting.ClusterWait;
+import com.palantir.docker.compose.events.EventConsumer;
+import java.util.List;
+import java.util.concurrent.atomic.AtomicInteger;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.extension.ExtensionContext;
+import org.mockito.Mockito;
+
+public class DockerComposeExtensionTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void calls_after_only_once() {
+        AtomicInteger count = new AtomicInteger();
+        DockerComposeExtension dockerComposeExtension = new DockerComposeExtension() {
+            @Override
+            public void before() {
+                throw new IllegalStateException("some error");
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public void after() {
+                count.incrementAndGet();
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            public DockerComposeFiles files() {
+                return null;
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            protected List<ClusterWait> clusterWaits() {
+                return null;
+            }
+
+            @Override
+            protected List<EventConsumer> eventConsumers() {
+                return null;
+            }
+        };
+
+        ExtensionContext extensionContext = Mockito.mock(ExtensionContext.class);
+        assertThatThrownBy(() -> dockerComposeExtension.beforeAll(extensionContext))
+                .isInstanceOf(IllegalStateException.class);
+        dockerComposeExtension.afterAll(extensionContext);
+        assertThat(count.get()).isEqualTo(1);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/docker-compose-rule-core/src/main/java/com/palantir/docker/compose/DockerComposeManager.java b/docker-compose-rule-core/src/main/java/com/palantir/docker/compose/DockerComposeManager.java
index d6d746078..589d70f54 100644
--- a/docker-compose-rule-core/src/main/java/com/palantir/docker/compose/DockerComposeManager.java
+++ b/docker-compose-rule-core/src/main/java/com/palantir/docker/compose/DockerComposeManager.java
@@ -76,6 +76,7 @@ public abstract class DockerComposeManager {
     public static final int DEFAULT_RETRY_ATTEMPTS = 2;
 
     private final RunRecorder runRecorder = RunRecorder.defaults();
+    private boolean hasCalledAfterMethod;
 
     public DockerPort hostNetworkedPort(int port) {
         return new DockerPort(machine().getIp(), port, port);
@@ -177,13 +178,19 @@ protected void setDescription(TestDescription testDescription) {
     }
 
     public void before() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
-        log.debug("Starting docker-compose cluster");
+        try {
+            log.debug("Starting docker-compose cluster");
 
-        runRecorder.before(() -> dockerCompose().config());
+            runRecorder.before(() -> dockerCompose().config());
 
-        pullBuildAndUp();
+            pullBuildAndUp();
 
-        emitEventsFor().waitingForServices(this::waitForServices);
+            emitEventsFor().waitingForServices(this::waitForServices);
+        } catch (RuntimeException e) {
+            after();
+            hasCalledAfterMethod = true;
+            throw e;
+        }
     }
 
     private void pullBuildAndUp() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
@@ -254,6 +261,10 @@ private void waitForAllClusterWaits(List<InterruptableClusterWait> allClusterWai
     }
 
     public void after() {
+        if (hasCalledAfterMethod) {
+            return;
+        }
+
         try {
             emitEventsFor().shutdownStop(() ->
                     shutdownStrategy().stop(this.dockerCompose()));
diff --git a/docker-compose-rule-core/src/main/java/com/palantir/docker/compose/connection/Container.java b/docker-compose-rule-core/src/main/java/com/palantir/docker/compose/connection/Container.java
index 1fa862ab0..6256680e8 100644
--- a/docker-compose-rule-core/src/main/java/com/palantir/docker/compose/connection/Container.java
+++ b/docker-compose-rule-core/src/main/java/com/palantir/docker/compose/connection/Container.java
@@ -88,7 +88,8 @@ public DockerPort port(int internalPort) {
                            .stream()
                            .filter(port -> port.getInternalPort() == internalPort)
                            .findFirst()
-                           .orElseThrow(() -> new IllegalArgumentException("No internal port '" + internalPort + "' for container '" + containerName + "': " + portMappings));
+                           .orElseThrow(() -> new IllegalArgumentException("No internal port '" + internalPort + "' "
+                                   + "for container '" + containerName + "': " + portMappings.get()));
     }
 
     public void start() throws IOException, InterruptedException {