diff --git a/CHANGELOG-developer.next.asciidoc b/CHANGELOG-developer.next.asciidoc
index 1bdd746251a8..cf378879b15e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG-developer.next.asciidoc
+++ b/CHANGELOG-developer.next.asciidoc
@@ -189,6 +189,7 @@ The list below covers the major changes between 7.0.0-rc2 and main only.
 - Allow assignment of packetbeat protocols to interfaces. {issue}36574[36564] {pull}36852[36852]
 - Add Active Directory entity collector for Filebeat entity analytics. {pull}37854[37854]
 - Make logs for empty and small files less noisy when using fingerprint file identity in filestream. {pull}38421[38421]
+- Improve robustness and error reporting from packetbeat default route testing. {pull}39757[39757]
 
 ==== Deprecated
 
diff --git a/packetbeat/route/route_windows_test.go b/packetbeat/route/route_windows_test.go
index 3968c187fc75..f216dabc3389 100644
--- a/packetbeat/route/route_windows_test.go
+++ b/packetbeat/route/route_windows_test.go
@@ -60,6 +60,9 @@ func defaultRoute(af int) (name string, index int, err error) {
 			inTable = f[0] == "-------"
 			continue
 		}
+		if len(f) < 5 {
+			return "", -1, fmt.Errorf("unexpected netsh %s line: %q\n\n%s", name, sc.Text(), r)
+		}
 		if strings.Contains(f[3], "/") {
 			ip, _, err := net.ParseCIDR(f[3])
 			if err != nil || !ip.IsUnspecified() {
@@ -98,7 +101,7 @@ func defaultRoute(af int) (name string, index int, err error) {
 			continue
 		}
 		if len(f) < 5 {
-			return "", -1, fmt.Errorf("unexpected netsh %s line: %q", name, sc.Text())
+			return "", -1, fmt.Errorf("unexpected netsh %s line: %q\n\n%s", name, sc.Text(), d)
 		}
 		idx, err := strconv.Atoi(f[0])
 		if err != nil {