diff --git a/src/legendmeta/core.py b/src/legendmeta/core.py
index 849b8bb..7556fdf 100644
--- a/src/legendmeta/core.py
+++ b/src/legendmeta/core.py
@@ -70,7 +70,9 @@ def _init_metadata_repo(self):
             repo = Repo(self._repo_path)
         except InvalidGitRepositoryError:
             msg = f"Cloning git@github.com:legend-exp/legend-metadata in {self._repo_path}..."
-            log.info(msg)
+            # set logging level as warning (default logging level), so it's
+            # always printed and the user knows why it takes so long to initialize
+            log.warning(msg)
 
             repo = Repo.clone_from(
                 "git@github.com:legend-exp/legend-metadata",