diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index c5af247e8b..59d2bc01da 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -6962,6 +6962,7 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "bytes",
+ "once_cell",
  "pageserver_api",
  "postgres_ffi",
  "serde",
diff --git a/libs/wal_decoder/Cargo.toml b/libs/wal_decoder/Cargo.toml
index 3f80f8fcdb..a76dac2ed1 100644
--- a/libs/wal_decoder/Cargo.toml
+++ b/libs/wal_decoder/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ testing = []
 [dependencies]
 anyhow.workspace = true
 bytes.workspace = true
+once_cell.workspace = true
 pageserver_api.workspace = true
 postgres_ffi.workspace = true
 serde.workspace = true
diff --git a/libs/wal_decoder/src/decoder.rs b/libs/wal_decoder/src/decoder.rs
index 780fce3d69..06144d45b8 100644
--- a/libs/wal_decoder/src/decoder.rs
+++ b/libs/wal_decoder/src/decoder.rs
@@ -169,9 +169,24 @@ impl MetadataRecord {
             }
             pg_constants::RM_STANDBY_ID => Self::decode_standby_record(&mut buf, decoded),
             pg_constants::RM_REPLORIGIN_ID => Self::decode_replorigin_record(&mut buf, decoded),
-            _unexpected => {
+            unexpected => {
                 // TODO: consider failing here instead of blindly doing something without
                 // understanding the protocol
+                use once_cell::sync::Lazy;
+                use std::sync::Mutex;
+                use std::time::Duration;
+                use utils::rate_limit::RateLimit;
+
+                static LOGGED: Lazy<Mutex<RateLimit>> =
+                    Lazy::new(|| Mutex::new(RateLimit::new(Duration::from_secs(10))));
+                let mut rate_limit = LOGGED.try_lock().unwrap();
+                rate_limit.call(|| {
+                    tracing::warn!(
+                        "Unexpected resource manager id in PG WAL record at LSN {}: {}",
+                        lsn,
+                        unexpected
+                    );
+                });
                 Ok(None)
             }
         }