diff --git a/src/crawlee/crawlers/_basic/_basic_crawler.py b/src/crawlee/crawlers/_basic/_basic_crawler.py
index 973e0ad430..7106c13a56 100644
--- a/src/crawlee/crawlers/_basic/_basic_crawler.py
+++ b/src/crawlee/crawlers/_basic/_basic_crawler.py
@@ -1654,11 +1654,9 @@ async def _crawler_state_task(self) -> None:
         current_state = self.statistics.state
 
         if (
-            failed_requests := (
-                current_state.requests_failed - (self._previous_crawler_state or current_state).requests_failed
-            )
-            > 0
-        ):
+            failed_requests := current_state.requests_failed
+            - (self._previous_crawler_state or current_state).requests_failed
+        ) > 0:
             message = f'Experiencing problems, {failed_requests} failed requests since last status update.'
         else:
             request_manager = await self.get_request_manager()
diff --git a/tests/unit/crawlers/_basic/test_basic_crawler.py b/tests/unit/crawlers/_basic/test_basic_crawler.py
index 10322a3006..f358ac4a9d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/crawlers/_basic/test_basic_crawler.py
+++ b/tests/unit/crawlers/_basic/test_basic_crawler.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@
 from crawlee.events import Event, EventCrawlerStatusData, LocalEventManager
 from crawlee.request_loaders import RequestList, RequestManagerTandem
 from crawlee.sessions import Session, SessionPool
-from crawlee.statistics import FinalStatistics
+from crawlee.statistics import FinalStatistics, StatisticsState
 from crawlee.storage_clients import FileSystemStorageClient, MemoryStorageClient
 from crawlee.storages import Dataset, KeyValueStore, RequestQueue
 
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@
     from yarl import URL
 
     from crawlee._types import JsonSerializable
-    from crawlee.statistics import StatisticsState
 
 
 async def test_processes_requests_from_explicit_queue() -> None:
@@ -1736,6 +1735,27 @@ def listener(event_data: EventCrawlerStatusData) -> None:
     assert status_message_listener.called
 
 
+async def test_status_message_reports_failed_request_count() -> None:
+    """The 'Experiencing problems' status message reports the count of new failures since the last update."""
+    captured_messages: list[str] = []
+
+    async def status_callback(
+        state: StatisticsState, previous_state: StatisticsState | None, message: str
+    ) -> str | None:
+        captured_messages.append(message)
+        return None
+
+    crawler = BasicCrawler(status_message_callback=status_callback)
+    crawler._previous_crawler_state = StatisticsState(requests_failed=2)
+    crawler._statistics = Mock(state=StatisticsState(requests_failed=5))
+
+    async with service_locator.get_event_manager():
+        await crawler._crawler_state_task()
+
+    problem_messages = [m for m in captured_messages if m.startswith('Experiencing problems')]
+    assert problem_messages == ['Experiencing problems, 3 failed requests since last status update.']
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(
     ('queue_name', 'queue_alias', 'by_id'),
     [