diff --git a/bin/lib/utils.js b/bin/lib/utils.js
index 6e9b73a0e..213fd890e 100644
--- a/bin/lib/utils.js
+++ b/bin/lib/utils.js
@@ -17,3 +17,16 @@ export const progress = (percentage, size = 20) => {
 };
 
 export const baseStorybookUrl = url => url.replace(/\/iframe\.html$/, '');
+
+export const rewriteErrorMessage = (err, message) => {
+  try {
+    // DOMException doesn't allow setting the message, so this might fail
+    // eslint-disable-next-line no-param-reassign
+    err.message = message;
+    return err;
+  } catch (ex) {
+    const error = new Error(message);
+    error.stack = err.stack; // try to preserve the original stack
+    return error;
+  }
+};
diff --git a/bin/main.js b/bin/main.js
index 89e941cab..d647608db 100755
--- a/bin/main.js
+++ b/bin/main.js
@@ -11,9 +11,11 @@ import getOptions from './lib/getOptions';
 import { createLogger } from './lib/log';
 import NonTTYRenderer from './lib/NonTTYRenderer';
 import parseArgs from './lib/parseArgs';
+import { rewriteErrorMessage } from './lib/utils';
 import getTasks from './tasks';
 import fatalError from './ui/messages/errors/fatalError';
 import fetchError from './ui/messages/errors/fetchError';
+import missingStories from './ui/messages/errors/missingStories';
 import runtimeError from './ui/messages/errors/runtimeError';
 import taskError from './ui/messages/errors/taskError';
 import intro from './ui/messages/info/intro';
@@ -78,15 +80,10 @@ export async function runBuild(ctx) {
         ctx.log.error(fetchError(ctx, err));
         return;
       }
-      try {
-        // DOMException doesn't allow setting the message, so this might fail
-        err.message = taskError(ctx, err);
-      } catch (ex) {
-        const error = new Error(taskError(ctx, err));
-        error.stack = err.stack; // try to preserve the original stack
-        throw error;
+      if (err.message.startsWith('Cannot run a build with no stories')) {
+        throw rewriteErrorMessage(err, missingStories(ctx));
       }
-      throw err;
+      throw rewriteErrorMessage(err, taskError(ctx, err));
     } finally {
       // Handle potential runtime errors from JSDOM
       const { runtimeErrors, runtimeWarnings } = ctx;
diff --git a/bin/ui/messages/errors/missingStories.js b/bin/ui/messages/errors/missingStories.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9210805b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/ui/messages/errors/missingStories.js
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import chalk from 'chalk';
+import dedent from 'ts-dedent';
+
+import { error } from '../../components/icons';
+import link from '../../components/link';
+
+export default ({ options, buildLogFile }) => {
+  const { buildScriptName } = options;
+  return dedent(chalk`
+    ${error} {bold Cannot run a build with no stories}
+
+    Your statically built Storybook exposes no stories. This indicates a problem with your Storybook. Here's what to do:
+
+    - Check the build log at {bold ${buildLogFile}}
+    - Run {bold npm run ${buildScriptName}} or {bold yarn ${buildScriptName}} yourself and make sure it outputs a valid Storybook by opening the generated {bold index.html} in your browser.
+    - Make sure you haven't accidently ignored all stories. See ${link(
+      'https://www.chromatic.com/docs/ignoring-elements#ignore-stories'
+    )} for details.
+  `);
+};
diff --git a/bin/ui/messages/errors/missingStories.stories.js b/bin/ui/messages/errors/missingStories.stories.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..318da6492
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/ui/messages/errors/missingStories.stories.js
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import missingStories from './missingStories';
+
+export default {
+  title: 'CLI/Messages/Errors',
+};
+
+export const MissingStories = () =>
+  missingStories({
+    options: { buildScriptName: 'build:storybook' },
+    buildLogFile: '/path/to/project/build-storybook.log',
+  });
diff --git a/bin/ui/messages/errors/taskError.js b/bin/ui/messages/errors/taskError.js
index 4f7d0769d..451fb3214 100644
--- a/bin/ui/messages/errors/taskError.js
+++ b/bin/ui/messages/errors/taskError.js
@@ -5,9 +5,9 @@ import { error } from '../../components/icons';
 
 const lcfirst = str => `${str.charAt(0).toLowerCase()}${str.substr(1)}`;
 
-export default function taskError({ title }, e) {
+export default function taskError({ title }, err) {
   return dedent(chalk`
     ${error} {bold Failed to ${lcfirst(title)}}
-    ${e.message}
+    ${err.message}
   `);
 }