diff --git a/locales/en/app.json b/locales/en/app.json
index 32d10663..1ff066ea 100644
--- a/locales/en/app.json
+++ b/locales/en/app.json
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@
     "connection_lost_description": "You were disconnected from the call.",
     "e2ee_unsupported": "Incompatible browser",
     "e2ee_unsupported_description": "Your web browser does not support encrypted calls. Supported browsers include Chrome, Safari, and Firefox 117+.",
-    "failed_to_start_livekit": "Failed to start Livekit",
+    "failed_to_start_livekit": "Failed to start Livekit connection",
     "generic": "Something went wrong",
     "generic_description": "Submitting debug logs will help us track down the problem.",
     "insufficient_capacity": "Insufficient capacity",
diff --git a/src/state/CallViewModel/localMember/LocalMembership.test.ts b/src/state/CallViewModel/localMember/LocalMembership.test.ts
index f5256005..e5b7cc4a 100644
--- a/src/state/CallViewModel/localMember/LocalMembership.test.ts
+++ b/src/state/CallViewModel/localMember/LocalMembership.test.ts
@@ -483,4 +483,5 @@ describe("LocalMembership", () => {
     expect(publishers[0].stopPublishing).toHaveBeenCalled();
     expect(publishers[0].stopTracks).toHaveBeenCalled();
   });
+  // TODO add tests for matrix local matrix participation.
 });
diff --git a/src/state/CallViewModel/localMember/Publisher.ts b/src/state/CallViewModel/localMember/Publisher.ts
index 7fc7d924..2021d618 100644
--- a/src/state/CallViewModel/localMember/Publisher.ts
+++ b/src/state/CallViewModel/localMember/Publisher.ts
@@ -34,7 +34,10 @@ import { getUrlParams } from "../../../UrlParams.ts";
 import { observeTrackReference$ } from "../../MediaViewModel.ts";
 import { type Connection } from "../remoteMembers/Connection.ts";
 import { type ObservableScope } from "../../ObservableScope.ts";
-import { FailToStartLivekitConnection } from "../../../utils/errors.ts";
+import {
+  ElementCallError,
+  FailToStartLivekitConnection,
+} from "../../../utils/errors.ts";
 
 /**
  * A wrapper for a Connection object.
@@ -154,7 +157,11 @@ export class Publisher {
           resolve();
           break;
         case "FailedToStart":
-          reject(new FailToStartLivekitConnection());
+          reject(
+            s.error instanceof ElementCallError
+              ? s.error
+              : new FailToStartLivekitConnection(),
+          );
           break;
         default:
           this.logger?.info("waiting for connection: ", s.state);