diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 755a359720..60270e2f66 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -3909,6 +3909,7 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "panic_logging"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
+ "metric",
  "observability_deps",
  "workspace-hack",
 ]
diff --git a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/all_in_one.rs b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/all_in_one.rs
index 29e24247e2..787880286b 100644
--- a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/all_in_one.rs
+++ b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/all_in_one.rs
@@ -370,7 +370,7 @@ pub async fn command(config: Config) -> Result<()> {
     info!(?ingester_addresses, "starting querier");
     let querier = create_querier_server_type(
         &common_state,
-        metrics,
+        Arc::clone(&metrics),
         catalog,
         object_store,
         time_provider,
@@ -388,5 +388,5 @@ pub async fn command(config: Config) -> Result<()> {
         Service::create_grpc_only(querier, &querier_run_config),
     ];
 
-    Ok(main::main(common_state, services).await?)
+    Ok(main::main(common_state, services, metrics).await?)
 }
diff --git a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/compactor.rs b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/compactor.rs
index 1fc8657561..04a6479f64 100644
--- a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/compactor.rs
+++ b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/compactor.rs
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ pub async fn command(config: Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
 
     let server_type = create_compactor_server_type(
         &common_state,
-        metric_registry,
+        Arc::clone(&metric_registry),
         catalog,
         object_store,
         exec,
@@ -103,5 +103,5 @@ pub async fn command(config: Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
     info!("starting compactor");
 
     let services = vec![Service::create(server_type, common_state.run_config())];
-    Ok(main::main(common_state, services).await?)
+    Ok(main::main(common_state, services, metric_registry).await?)
 }
diff --git a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/database.rs b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/database.rs
index f57cb852ff..48db2dca59 100644
--- a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/database.rs
+++ b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/database.rs
@@ -130,5 +130,10 @@ pub async fn command(config: Config) -> Result<()> {
     ));
 
     let services = vec![Service::create(server_type, common_state.run_config())];
-    Ok(main::main(common_state, services).await?)
+    Ok(main::main(
+        common_state,
+        services,
+        Arc::new(metric::Registry::default()),
+    )
+    .await?)
 }
diff --git a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/ingester.rs b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/ingester.rs
index 4390a947f0..435f48d87d 100644
--- a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/ingester.rs
+++ b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/ingester.rs
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ pub async fn command(config: Config) -> Result<()> {
     let exec = Arc::new(Executor::new(config.query_exec_thread_count));
     let server_type = create_ingester_server_type(
         &common_state,
-        metric_registry,
+        Arc::clone(&metric_registry),
         catalog,
         object_store,
         exec,
@@ -101,5 +101,5 @@ pub async fn command(config: Config) -> Result<()> {
     info!("starting ingester");
 
     let services = vec![Service::create(server_type, common_state.run_config())];
-    Ok(main::main(common_state, services).await?)
+    Ok(main::main(common_state, services, metric_registry).await?)
 }
diff --git a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/main.rs b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/main.rs
index 88302f009b..79b4c60b09 100644
--- a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/main.rs
+++ b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/main.rs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+use std::sync::Arc;
+
 use ioxd_common::Service;
 use ioxd_common::{grpc_listener, http_listener, serve, server_type::CommonServerState};
 use observability_deps::tracing::{error, info};
@@ -66,7 +68,11 @@ fn build_malloc_conf() -> String {
 ///
 /// Due to its invasive nature (install global panic handling,
 /// logging, etc) this function should not be used during unit tests.
-pub async fn main(common_state: CommonServerState, services: Vec<Service>) -> Result<()> {
+pub async fn main(
+    common_state: CommonServerState,
+    services: Vec<Service>,
+    metrics: Arc<metric::Registry>,
+) -> Result<()> {
     let git_hash = env!("GIT_HASH", "starting influxdb_iox server");
     let num_cpus = num_cpus::get();
     let build_malloc_conf = build_malloc_conf();
@@ -98,7 +104,7 @@ pub async fn main(common_state: CommonServerState, services: Vec<Service>) -> Re
     // lifetime of the program - this is actually a good thing, as it prevents
     // the panic handler from being removed while unwinding a panic (which in
     // turn, causes a panic - see #548)
-    let f = SendPanicsToTracing::new();
+    let f = SendPanicsToTracing::new().with_metrics(&*metrics);
     std::mem::forget(f);
 
     // Register jemalloc metrics
diff --git a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/querier.rs b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/querier.rs
index 09758c18a1..0f1495f415 100644
--- a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/querier.rs
+++ b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/querier.rs
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ pub async fn command(config: Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
     let exec = Arc::new(Executor::new(num_threads));
     let server_type = create_querier_server_type(
         &common_state,
-        metric_registry,
+        Arc::clone(&metric_registry),
         catalog,
         object_store,
         time_provider,
@@ -101,5 +101,5 @@ pub async fn command(config: Config) -> Result<(), Error> {
     info!("starting querier");
 
     let services = vec![Service::create(server_type, common_state.run_config())];
-    Ok(main::main(common_state, services).await?)
+    Ok(main::main(common_state, services, metric_registry).await?)
 }
diff --git a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/router.rs b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/router.rs
index 25dbb17b60..16bcd22543 100644
--- a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/router.rs
+++ b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/router.rs
@@ -159,5 +159,10 @@ pub async fn command(config: Config) -> Result<()> {
     ));
 
     let services = vec![Service::create(server_type, common_state.run_config())];
-    Ok(main::main(common_state, services).await?)
+    Ok(main::main(
+        common_state,
+        services,
+        Arc::new(metric::Registry::default()),
+    )
+    .await?)
 }
diff --git a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/router2.rs b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/router2.rs
index 5970d27c69..9f198e8add 100644
--- a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/router2.rs
+++ b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/router2.rs
@@ -96,5 +96,5 @@ pub async fn command(config: Config) -> Result<()> {
 
     info!("starting router2");
     let services = vec![Service::create(server_type, common_state.run_config())];
-    Ok(main::main(common_state, services).await?)
+    Ok(main::main(common_state, services, metrics).await?)
 }
diff --git a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/test.rs b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/test.rs
index b2ac0a0924..4c12f6e628 100644
--- a/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/test.rs
+++ b/influxdb_iox/src/commands/run/test.rs
@@ -61,5 +61,10 @@ pub async fn command(config: Config) -> Result<()> {
     ));
 
     let services = vec![Service::create(server_type, common_state.run_config())];
-    Ok(main::main(common_state, services).await?)
+    Ok(main::main(
+        common_state,
+        services,
+        Arc::new(metric::Registry::default()),
+    )
+    .await?)
 }
diff --git a/panic_logging/Cargo.toml b/panic_logging/Cargo.toml
index e2daecb464..93f8358558 100644
--- a/panic_logging/Cargo.toml
+++ b/panic_logging/Cargo.toml
@@ -5,5 +5,6 @@ authors = ["Paul Dix <paul@pauldix.net>"]
 edition = "2021"
 
 [dependencies] # In alphabetical order
+metric = { path = "../metric" }
 observability_deps = { path = "../observability_deps" }
 workspace-hack = { path = "../workspace-hack"}
diff --git a/panic_logging/src/lib.rs b/panic_logging/src/lib.rs
index 8357090509..06583adf64 100644
--- a/panic_logging/src/lib.rs
+++ b/panic_logging/src/lib.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 use std::{fmt, panic, sync::Arc};
 
+use metric::U64Counter;
 use observability_deps::tracing::{error, warn};
 use panic::PanicInfo;
 
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ type PanicFunctionPtr = Arc<Box<dyn Fn(&PanicInfo<'_>) + Sync + Send + 'static>>
 /// prior panic hook.
 ///
 /// Upon drop, restores the pre-existing panic hook
+#[derive(Default)]
 pub struct SendPanicsToTracing {
     /// The previously installed panic hook -- Note it is wrapped in an
     /// `Option` so we can `.take` it during the call to `drop()`;
@@ -40,12 +42,23 @@ impl SendPanicsToTracing {
 
         Self { old_panic_hook }
     }
-}
 
-// recommended by clippy
-impl Default for SendPanicsToTracing {
-    fn default() -> Self {
-        Self::new()
+    /// Configure this panic handler to emit a panic count metric.
+    ///
+    /// The metric is named `thread_panic_count_total` and is incremented each
+    /// time the panic handler is invoked.
+    pub fn with_metrics(self, metrics: &metric::Registry) -> Self {
+        let panic_count = metrics
+            .register_metric::<U64Counter>("thread_panic_count", "number of thread panics observed")
+            .recorder(&[]);
+
+        let old_hook = Arc::clone(self.old_panic_hook.as_ref().expect("no hook set"));
+        panic::set_hook(Box::new(move |info| {
+            panic_count.inc(1);
+            tracing_panic_hook(&old_hook, info)
+        }));
+
+        self
     }
 }
 
@@ -97,3 +110,36 @@ fn tracing_panic_hook(other_hook: &PanicFunctionPtr, panic_info: &PanicInfo<'_>)
     // panic function)
     other_hook(panic_info)
 }
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use metric::{Attributes, Metric};
+
+    use super::*;
+
+    fn assert_count(metrics: &metric::Registry, count: u64) {
+        let got = metrics
+            .get_instrument::<Metric<U64Counter>>("thread_panic_count")
+            .expect("failed to read metric")
+            .get_observer(&Attributes::from(&[]))
+            .expect("failed to get observer")
+            .fetch();
+        assert_eq!(got, count);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_panic_counter() {
+        let metrics = metric::Registry::default();
+        let _guard = SendPanicsToTracing::new().with_metrics(&metrics);
+
+        assert_count(&metrics, 0);
+
+        std::thread::spawn(|| {
+            panic!("it's bananas");
+        })
+        .join()
+        .expect_err("wat");
+
+        assert_count(&metrics, 1);
+    }
+}