diff --git a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/Shard.scala b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/Shard.scala
index 925da2e7f3..2805517796 100644
--- a/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/Shard.scala
+++ b/akka-cluster-sharding/src/main/scala/akka/cluster/sharding/Shard.scala
@@ -772,7 +772,8 @@ private[akka] class Shard(
   private def startEntity(entityId: EntityId, ackTo: Option[ActorRef]): Unit = {
     entities.entityState(entityId) match {
       case Active(_) =>
-        log.debug("Request to start entity [{}] (Already started)", entityId)
+        if (verboseDebug)
+          log.debug("Request to start entity [{}] (Already started)", entityId)
         touchLastMessageTimestamp(entityId)
         ackTo.foreach(_ ! ShardRegion.StartEntityAck(entityId, shardId))
       case _: RememberingStart =>