diff --git a/debug.cpp b/debug.cpp
index 869994bd..7b5ca4fa 100644
--- a/debug.cpp
+++ b/debug.cpp
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ using namespace std;
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 void
 panic (const std::string& what) {
-    breakpoint ();
     cerr << "PANIC: " << what << "\n" << debug::backtrace () << endl;
+    breakpoint ();
     abort ();
 }