diff --git a/helix-core/src/syntax.rs b/helix-core/src/syntax.rs
index 7ce0f8d27..06e9cbc03 100644
--- a/helix-core/src/syntax.rs
+++ b/helix-core/src/syntax.rs
@@ -374,7 +374,8 @@ impl LanguageConfiguration {
                 &injections_query,
                 &locals_query,
             )
-            .unwrap_or_else(|query_error| panic!("Could not parse queries for language {:?}. Are your grammars out of sync? Try running 'hx --grammar fetch' and 'hx --grammar build'. This query could not be parsed: {:?}", self.language_id, query_error));
+            .map_err(|err| log::error!("Could not parse queries for language {:?}. Are your grammars out of sync? Try running 'hx --grammar fetch' and 'hx --grammar build'. This query could not be parsed: {:?}", self.language_id, err))
+            .ok()?;
 
             config.configure(scopes);
             Some(Arc::new(config))