diff --git a/src/gnome-utils/gnc-gnome-utils.c b/src/gnome-utils/gnc-gnome-utils.c
index aad8acba08..4571c786cd 100644
--- a/src/gnome-utils/gnc-gnome-utils.c
+++ b/src/gnome-utils/gnc-gnome-utils.c
@@ -242,6 +242,12 @@ gnc_gnome_help (const char *file_name, const char *anchor)
     return;
 
   g_assert(error != NULL);
+  {
+    const gchar *message =
+      _("GnuCash could not find the files for the help documentation.  "
+	"This is likely because the 'gnucash-docs' package is not installed.");
+    gnc_error_dialog(NULL, message);
+  }
   PERR ("%s", error->message);
   g_error_free(error);
 }