diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/fbreceiver/receiver.go b/x-pack/filebeat/fbreceiver/receiver.go
index 005277ecef53..1ae4eaba6cc8 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/fbreceiver/receiver.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/fbreceiver/receiver.go
@@ -21,11 +21,14 @@ type filebeatReceiver struct {
 }
 
 func (fb *filebeatReceiver) Start(ctx context.Context, host component.Host) error {
+	if err := fb.BeatReceiver.Setup(host); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	fb.wg.Add(1)
 	go func() {
 		defer fb.wg.Done()
 		fb.Logger.Info("starting filebeat receiver")
-		if err := fb.BeatReceiver.Start(host); err != nil {
+		if err := fb.BeatReceiver.Run(); err != nil {
 			fb.Logger.Error("error starting filebeat receiver", zap.Error(err))
 		}
 	}()
diff --git a/x-pack/filebeat/fbreceiver/receiver_test.go b/x-pack/filebeat/fbreceiver/receiver_test.go
index 503e881eea8d..a3d36c09fecd 100644
--- a/x-pack/filebeat/fbreceiver/receiver_test.go
+++ b/x-pack/filebeat/fbreceiver/receiver_test.go
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/component/componentstatus"
+	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/consumer/consumertest"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/pipeline"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/receiver"
 	"go.opentelemetry.io/collector/receiver/receivertest"
@@ -722,6 +723,29 @@ func TestReceiverHook(t *testing.T) {
 	oteltest.TestReceiverHook(t, &cfg, NewFactoryWithSettings(Settings{Home: t.TempDir()}), receiverSettings, 3)
 }
 
+func TestStartShouldFailWhenStorageExtensionMissing(t *testing.T) {
+	cfg := &Config{Beatconfig: map[string]any{
+		"filebeat": map[string]any{"inputs": []map[string]any{{
+			"type": "benchmark", "enabled": true, "message": "x", "count": 1,
+		}}},
+		"storage":   "elasticsearch_storage",
+		"path.home": t.TempDir(),
+	}}
+
+	factory := NewFactoryWithSettings(Settings{Home: t.TempDir()})
+	set := receiver.Settings{
+		ID:                component.NewIDWithName(factory.Type(), "r1"),
+		TelemetrySettings: component.TelemetrySettings{Logger: zap.NewNop()},
+	}
+
+	r, err := factory.CreateLogs(t.Context(), set, cfg, consumertest.NewNop())
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	err = r.Start(t.Context(), &oteltest.MockHost{})
+	require.Error(t, err, "expected Start to fail when storage extension is configured but missing")
+	_ = r.Shutdown(t.Context())
+}
+
 func hostFromSocket(socket string) string {
 	if runtime.GOOS == "windows" {
 		return "npipe:///" + filepath.Base(socket)
diff --git a/x-pack/libbeat/cmd/instance/receiver.go b/x-pack/libbeat/cmd/instance/receiver.go
index f8adbef1f617..e191e6b3ecf5 100644
--- a/x-pack/libbeat/cmd/instance/receiver.go
+++ b/x-pack/libbeat/cmd/instance/receiver.go
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ type BeatReceiver struct {
 	Logger              *logp.Logger
 	bridge              *oteltelemetry.RegistryBridge
 	releaseSystemBridge func()
+	groupReporter       otelstatus.RunnerReporter
 }
 
 // NewBeatReceiver creates a BeatReceiver.  This will also create the beater and start the monitoring server if configured
@@ -114,12 +115,13 @@ func NewBeatReceiver(ctx context.Context, b *instance.Beat, creator beat.Creator
 	}, nil
 }
 
-// BeatReceiver.Start() starts the beat receiver.
-func (br *BeatReceiver) Start(host component.Host) error {
-	var groupReporter otelstatus.RunnerReporter
+// Setup initialises the beat receiver against the given host. It must be called before Run.
+// Any configuration errors (e.g. missing storage extensions) are returned here so that the
+// OTel collector can surface them as a hard startup failure instead of silently swallowing them.
+func (br *BeatReceiver) Setup(host component.Host) error {
 	if w, ok := br.beater.(cfgfile.WithOtelFactoryWrapper); ok {
-		groupReporter = otelstatus.NewGroupStatusReporter(host)
-		w.WithOtelFactoryWrapper(otelstatus.StatusReporterFactory(groupReporter))
+		br.groupReporter = otelstatus.NewGroupStatusReporter(host)
+		w.WithOtelFactoryWrapper(otelstatus.StatusReporterFactory(br.groupReporter))
 	}
 
 	// We go through all extensions to find any that implement the DiagnosticExtension interface.
@@ -182,12 +184,17 @@ func (br *BeatReceiver) Start(host component.Host) error {
 		}
 	})
 
+	return nil
+}
+
+// Run starts the beat's main loop. Setup must be called before Run.
+func (br *BeatReceiver) Run() error {
 	if err := br.beater.Run(&br.beat.Beat); err != nil {
-		// set beatreceiver status
-		groupReporter.UpdateStatus(status.Failed, err.Error())
+		if br.groupReporter != nil {
+			br.groupReporter.UpdateStatus(status.Failed, err.Error())
+		}
 		return fmt.Errorf("beat receiver run error: %w", err)
 	}
-
 	return nil
 }
 
diff --git a/x-pack/metricbeat/mbreceiver/receiver.go b/x-pack/metricbeat/mbreceiver/receiver.go
index 66a56259440e..f17b7840bdee 100644
--- a/x-pack/metricbeat/mbreceiver/receiver.go
+++ b/x-pack/metricbeat/mbreceiver/receiver.go
@@ -21,11 +21,14 @@ type metricbeatReceiver struct {
 }
 
 func (mb *metricbeatReceiver) Start(ctx context.Context, host component.Host) error {
+	if err := mb.BeatReceiver.Setup(host); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
 	mb.wg.Add(1)
 	go func() {
 		defer mb.wg.Done()
 		mb.Logger.Info("starting metricbeat receiver")
-		if err := mb.BeatReceiver.Start(host); err != nil {
+		if err := mb.BeatReceiver.Run(); err != nil {
 			mb.Logger.Error("error starting metricbeat receiver", zap.Error(err))
 		}
 	}()