diff --git a/backend/src/services/file.service.ts b/backend/src/services/file.service.ts
index 9338e2ff..0215754f 100644
--- a/backend/src/services/file.service.ts
+++ b/backend/src/services/file.service.ts
@@ -167,6 +167,9 @@ export class FileService implements OnModuleInit {
             .take(take)
             .skip(skip)
             .getManyAndCount();
+        if (files.length === 0) {
+            throw new Error('No files found.');
+        }
 
         return {
             data: files.map((element) => fileEntityToDto(element)),
diff --git a/cli/kleinkram/core.py b/cli/kleinkram/core.py
index 18719dd2..b081b2f4 100644
--- a/cli/kleinkram/core.py
+++ b/cli/kleinkram/core.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 from typing import Sequence
 from uuid import UUID
 
+import httpx
 from rich.console import Console
 from tqdm import tqdm
 
@@ -33,6 +34,7 @@
 from kleinkram.api.query import MissionQuery
 from kleinkram.api.query import ProjectQuery
 from kleinkram.api.query import check_mission_query_is_creatable
+from kleinkram.errors import InvalidFileQuery
 from kleinkram.errors import MissionNotFound
 from kleinkram.models import FileState
 from kleinkram.models import FileVerificationStatus
@@ -67,7 +69,12 @@ def download(
         raise ValueError(f"Destination {base_dir.absolute()} is not a directory")
 
     # retrive files and get the destination paths
-    files = list(kleinkram.api.routes.get_files(client, file_query=query))
+    try:
+        files = list(kleinkram.api.routes.get_files(client, file_query=query))
+    except httpx.HTTPStatusError:
+        raise InvalidFileQuery(
+            f"Files not found. Maybe you forgot to specify mission or project flags: {query}"
+        )
     paths = file_paths_from_files(files, dest=base_dir, allow_nested=nested)
 
     if verbose: