diff --git a/.changeset/olive-ads-peel.md b/.changeset/olive-ads-peel.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7a7c73ddb7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/olive-ads-peel.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-scaffolder-backend': patch
+---
+
+Provide better error messaging when GitHub fails due to missing team definitions
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/github/githubRepoCreate.test.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/github/githubRepoCreate.test.ts
index f15747fd6b..a9ef8c3daa 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/github/githubRepoCreate.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/github/githubRepoCreate.test.ts
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ const mockOctokit = {
     },
     teams: {
       addOrUpdateRepoPermissionsInOrg: jest.fn(),
+      getByName: jest.fn(),
     },
   },
 };
@@ -96,6 +97,13 @@ describe('github:repo:create', () => {
       data: { type: 'Organization' },
     });
 
+    mockOctokit.rest.teams.getByName.mockResolvedValue({
+      data: {
+        name: 'blam',
+        id: 42,
+      },
+    });
+
     mockOctokit.rest.repos.createInOrg.mockResolvedValue({ data: {} });
 
     await action.handler(mockContext);
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/github/helpers.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/github/helpers.ts
index dae5e16374..75c8f25d8b 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/github/helpers.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/github/helpers.ts
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@
  */
 
 import { Config } from '@backstage/config';
-import { assertError, InputError } from '@backstage/errors';
+import { assertError, InputError, NotFoundError } from '@backstage/errors';
 import {
   DefaultGithubCredentialsProvider,
   GithubCredentialsProvider,
@@ -135,6 +135,10 @@ export async function createGithubRepoWithCollaboratorsAndTopics(
     username: owner,
   });
 
+  if (access?.startsWith(`${owner}/`)) {
+    await validateAccessTeam(client, access);
+  }
+
   const repoCreationPromise =
     user.data.type === 'Organization'
       ? client.rest.repos.createInOrg({
@@ -351,3 +355,22 @@ function extractCollaboratorName(
   if ('user' in collaborator) return collaborator.user;
   return collaborator.team;
 }
+
+async function validateAccessTeam(client: Octokit, access: string) {
+  const [org, team_slug] = access.split('/');
+  try {
+    // Below rule disabled because of a 'getByName' check for a different library
+    // incorrectly triggers here.
+    // eslint-disable-next-line testing-library/no-await-sync-query
+    await client.rest.teams.getByName({
+      org,
+      team_slug,
+    });
+  } catch (e) {
+    if (e.response.data.message === 'Not Found') {
+      const message = `Received 'Not Found' from the API; one of org:
+        ${org} or team: ${team_slug} was not found within GitHub.`;
+      throw new NotFoundError(message);
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/github.test.ts b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/github.test.ts
index 8ead489ea4..94b51f3e94 100644
--- a/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/github.test.ts
+++ b/plugins/scaffolder-backend/src/scaffolder/actions/builtin/publish/github.test.ts
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ const mockOctokit = {
       replaceAllTopics: jest.fn(),
     },
     teams: {
+      getByName: jest.fn(),
       addOrUpdateRepoPermissionsInOrg: jest.fn(),
     },
   },
@@ -96,11 +97,41 @@ describe('publish:github', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it('should fail to create if the team is not found in the org', async () => {
+    mockOctokit.rest.users.getByUsername.mockResolvedValue({
+      data: { type: 'Organization' },
+    });
+
+    mockOctokit.rest.teams.getByName.mockRejectedValue({
+      response: {
+        status: 404,
+        data: {
+          message: 'Not Found',
+          documentation_url:
+            'https://docs.github.com/en/rest/teams/teams#add-or-update-team-repository-permissions',
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    await expect(action.handler(mockContext)).rejects.toThrow(
+      "Received 'Not Found' from the API;",
+    );
+
+    expect(mockOctokit.rest.repos.createInOrg).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
   it('should call the githubApis with the correct values for createInOrg', async () => {
     mockOctokit.rest.users.getByUsername.mockResolvedValue({
       data: { type: 'Organization' },
     });
 
+    mockOctokit.rest.teams.getByName.mockResolvedValue({
+      data: {
+        name: 'blam',
+        id: 42,
+      },
+    });
+
     mockOctokit.rest.repos.createInOrg.mockResolvedValue({ data: {} });
 
     await action.handler(mockContext);
@@ -518,6 +549,30 @@ describe('publish:github', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  it('should provide an adequate failure message when adding access', async () => {
+    mockOctokit.rest.users.getByUsername.mockResolvedValue({
+      data: { type: 'User' },
+    });
+
+    mockOctokit.rest.teams.getByName.mockRejectedValue({
+      response: {
+        status: 404,
+        data: {
+          message: 'Not Found',
+          documentation_url:
+            'https://docs.github.com/en/rest/teams/teams#add-or-update-team-repository-permissions',
+        },
+      },
+    });
+    await expect(action.handler(mockContext)).rejects.toThrow(
+      "Received 'Not Found' from the API;",
+    );
+
+    expect(
+      mockOctokit.rest.repos.createForAuthenticatedUser,
+    ).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+  });
+
   it('should add outside collaborators when provided', async () => {
     mockOctokit.rest.users.getByUsername.mockResolvedValue({
       data: { type: 'User' },