diff --git a/.changeset/dry-glasses-push.md b/.changeset/dry-glasses-push.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..31a04db24a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/dry-glasses-push.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@backstage/plugin-auth-node': patch
+---
+
+Extend the "unable to resolve user identity" message
diff --git a/plugins/auth-node/src/sign-in/readDeclarativeSignInResolver.ts b/plugins/auth-node/src/sign-in/readDeclarativeSignInResolver.ts
index 82b4918326..ed8f4baeeb 100644
--- a/plugins/auth-node/src/sign-in/readDeclarativeSignInResolver.ts
+++ b/plugins/auth-node/src/sign-in/readDeclarativeSignInResolver.ts
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ export function readDeclarativeSignInResolver<TAuthResult>(
       }
     }
 
-    throw new Error('Failed to sign-in, unable to resolve user identity');
+    throw new Error(
+      'Failed to sign-in, unable to resolve user identity. Please verify that your catalog contains the expected User entities that would match your configured sign-in resolver.',
+    );
   };
 }