diff --git a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/docker_kurtosis_backend.go b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/docker_kurtosis_backend.go
index 2242f8e3e3..d1948e7d5e 100644
--- a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/docker_kurtosis_backend.go
+++ b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/docker_kurtosis_backend.go
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ package docker_kurtosis_backend
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"io"
 	"sync"
 
@@ -408,14 +409,26 @@ func (backend *DockerKurtosisBackend) CreateLogsCollectorForEnclave(
 	*logs_collector.LogsCollector,
 	error,
 ) {
-	logsAggregator, err := backend.GetLogsAggregator(ctx)
+	var logsAggregator *logs_aggregator.LogsAggregator
+	maybeLogsAggregator, err := logs_aggregator_functions.GetLogsAggregator(ctx, backend.dockerManager)
 	if err != nil {
-		return nil, stacktrace.Propagate(err, "An error occurred getting the logs aggregator; the logs collector cannot be run without a logs aggregator")
-	}
-
-	if logsAggregator == nil || logsAggregator.GetStatus() != container.ContainerStatus_Running {
-		return nil, stacktrace.NewError("The logs aggregator is not running; the logs collector cannot be run without a running logs aggregator")
+		return nil, stacktrace.Propagate(err, "An error occurred getting the logs aggregator. The logs collector cannot be run without a logs aggregator.")
+	}
+	if maybeLogsAggregator == nil {
+		logrus.Warnf("Logs aggregator container does not exist. This is unexpected as docker should have restarted the container automatically.")
+		logrus.Warnf("This can be fixed by restarting the engine using `kurtosis engine restart` and attempting to create the enclave again.")
+		return nil, stacktrace.Propagate(err, "No logs aggregator container exists. The logs collector cannot be run without a logs aggregator.")
+	}
+	if maybeLogsAggregator.GetStatus() != container.ContainerStatus_Running {
+		logrus.Warnf("Logs aggregator exists but is not running. Instead container status is '%v'. This is unexpected as docker should have restarted the container automatically.",
+			maybeLogsAggregator.GetStatus())
+		logrus.Warnf("This can be fixed by restarting the engine using `kurtosis engine restart` and attempting to create the enclave again.")
+		return nil, stacktrace.Propagate(err,
+			"The logs aggregator container exists but is not running. Instead container status is '%v'. The logs collector cannot be run without a logs aggregator.",
+			maybeLogsAggregator.GetStatus(),
+		)
 	}
+	logsAggregator = maybeLogsAggregator
 
 	//Declaring the implementation
 	logsCollectorContainer := fluentbit.NewFluentbitLogsCollectorContainer()
diff --git a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/create_engine.go b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/create_engine.go
index 79c3ebd36a..e2fabdad9d 100644
--- a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/create_engine.go
+++ b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/engine_functions/create_engine.go
@@ -104,6 +104,12 @@ func CreateEngine(
 		return nil, stacktrace.Propagate(err,
 			"An error occurred attempting to create logging components for engine with GUID '%v' in Docker network with network id '%v'.", engineGuidStr, targetNetworkId)
 	}
+	shouldRemoveLogsAggregator := true
+	defer func() {
+		if shouldRemoveLogsAggregator {
+			removeLogsAggregatorFunc()
+		}
+	}()
 
 	// schedule log removal for log retention
 	go func() {
@@ -118,13 +124,6 @@ func CreateEngine(
 			logRemover.Run()
 		}
 	}()
-
-	shouldRemoveCentralizedLogComponents := true
-	defer func() {
-		if shouldRemoveCentralizedLogComponents {
-			removeLogsAggregatorFunc()
-		}
-	}()
 	logrus.Infof("Centralized logs components started.")
 
 	enclaveManagerUIPortSpec, err := port_spec.NewPortSpec(uint16(enclaveManagerUIPort), consts.EngineTransportProtocol, consts.HttpApplicationProtocol, defaultWait)
@@ -265,7 +264,7 @@ func CreateEngine(
 		return nil, stacktrace.Propagate(err, "An error occurred creating an engine object from container with GUID '%v'", containerId)
 	}
 
-	shouldRemoveCentralizedLogComponents = false
+	shouldRemoveLogsAggregator = false
 	shouldKillEngineContainer = false
 	return result, nil
 }
diff --git a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/logs_aggregator_functions/implementations/vector/vector_container_config_provider.go b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/logs_aggregator_functions/implementations/vector/vector_container_config_provider.go
index f7822deca2..9698cb2fd1 100644
--- a/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/logs_aggregator_functions/implementations/vector/vector_container_config_provider.go
+++ b/container-engine-lib/lib/backend_impls/docker/docker_kurtosis_backend/logs_aggregator_functions/implementations/vector/vector_container_config_provider.go
@@ -52,6 +52,10 @@ func (vector *vectorContainerConfigProvider) GetContainerArgs(
 		),
 	}
 
+	// The logs aggregator should ALWAYS be running to ensure that no logs are lost for services in enclaves
+	// Thus, instruct docker to restart the container if it exits with non-zero status code for whatever reason
+	restartPolicy := docker_manager.RestartPolicy("on-failure")
+
 	createAndStartArgs := docker_manager.NewCreateAndStartContainerArgsBuilder(
 		containerImage,
 		containerName,
@@ -66,6 +70,8 @@ func (vector *vectorContainerConfigProvider) GetContainerArgs(
 		},
 	).WithCmdArgs(
 		overrideCmd,
+	).WithRestartPolicy(
+		restartPolicy,
 	).Build()
 
 	return createAndStartArgs, nil