diff --git a/.changeset/flat-peaches-act.md b/.changeset/flat-peaches-act.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..577e17231f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/flat-peaches-act.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-techdocs-backend': patch
+---
+
+Techdocs backend explains a bit more about about what might have caused the docs not being found when building techdocs.
diff --git a/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/DocsSynchronizer.ts b/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/DocsSynchronizer.ts
index 3d89d1647f..8456f64a6a 100644
--- a/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/DocsSynchronizer.ts
+++ b/plugins/techdocs-backend/src/service/DocsSynchronizer.ts
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ export class DocsSynchronizer {
       );
       error(
         new NotFoundError(
-          'Sorry! It took too long for the generated docs to show up in storage. Check back later.',
+          'Sorry! It took too long for the generated docs to show up in storage. Are you sure the docs project is generating an `index.html` file? Otherwise, check back later.',
         ),
       );
       return;