diff --git a/src/v/storage/disk_log_impl.cc b/src/v/storage/disk_log_impl.cc
index 91ad021d58d9..44d2d19d2b24 100644
--- a/src/v/storage/disk_log_impl.cc
+++ b/src/v/storage/disk_log_impl.cc
@@ -1316,11 +1316,13 @@ ss::future<> disk_log_impl::do_compact(
         std::rethrow_exception(eptr);
     }
     bool compacted = did_compact_fut.get();
-    if (!compacted) {
-        // If sliding window compaction did not occur, we fall back to adjacent
-        // segment compaction.
-        co_await compact_adjacent_segments(compact_cfg);
-    }
+    vlog(
+      gclog.debug,
+      "Sliding compaction of {} did {}compact data, proceeding to adjacent "
+      "segment compaction",
+      config().ntp(),
+      compacted ? "" : "not ");
+    co_await compact_adjacent_segments(compact_cfg);
 }
 
 ss::future<> disk_log_impl::gc(gc_config cfg) {