diff --git a/dd-java-agent/agent-tooling/src/main/java/datadog/trace/agent/tooling/Instrumenter.java b/dd-java-agent/agent-tooling/src/main/java/datadog/trace/agent/tooling/Instrumenter.java
index 684efe5781..dff8579512 100644
--- a/dd-java-agent/agent-tooling/src/main/java/datadog/trace/agent/tooling/Instrumenter.java
+++ b/dd-java-agent/agent-tooling/src/main/java/datadog/trace/agent/tooling/Instrumenter.java
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ public interface Instrumenter {
 
       AgentBuilder.Identified.Extendable agentBuilder =
           parentAgentBuilder
-              .type(typeMatcher(), classLoaderMatcher())
+              .type(safeTypeMatcher(typeMatcher()), classLoaderMatcher())
               .and(new MuzzleMatcher())
               .transform(DDTransformers.defaultTransformers());
       agentBuilder = injectHelperClasses(agentBuilder);
@@ -88,6 +88,23 @@ public interface Instrumenter {
       return agentBuilder.asDecorator();
     }
 
+    /** Wrap an ElementMatcher in a try-catch exception and log any exceptions. */
+    private ElementMatcher<? super TypeDescription> safeTypeMatcher(
+        final ElementMatcher<? super TypeDescription> instrumentationMatcher) {
+      return new ElementMatcher<TypeDescription>() {
+        @Override
+        public boolean matches(TypeDescription target) {
+          try {
+            return instrumentationMatcher.matches(target);
+          } catch (Exception e) {
+            log.debug(
+                "Instrumentation matcher unexpected exception: " + instrumentationPrimaryName, e);
+            return false;
+          }
+        }
+      };
+    }
+
     private AgentBuilder.Identified.Extendable injectHelperClasses(
         AgentBuilder.Identified.Extendable agentBuilder) {
       final String[] helperClassNames = helperClassNames();