diff --git a/plugins/auth-backend/src/service/router.ts b/plugins/auth-backend/src/service/router.ts
index fa551f6ec2..a79ad66179 100644
--- a/plugins/auth-backend/src/service/router.ts
+++ b/plugins/auth-backend/src/service/router.ts
@@ -139,7 +139,16 @@ export async function createRouter({
 
   router.use('/:provider/', req => {
     const { provider } = req.params;
-    throw new NotFoundError(`No auth provider registered for '${provider}'`);
+    if (providers.includes(provider)) {
+      // If they added the provider under auth.providers but the clientId and clientSecret etc. were not found.
+      throw new NotFoundError(
+        `Auth provider registered for '${provider}' is misconfigured. This could mean the configs under ` +
+          `auth.providers.${provider} are missing or the environment variables used are not defined. ` +
+          `Check the auth backend plugin logs when the backend starts to see more details.`,
+      );
+    } else {
+      throw new NotFoundError(`No auth provider registered for '${provider}'`);
+    }
   });
 
   return router;