diff --git a/cmd/kraft/pkg/pkg.go b/cmd/kraft/pkg/pkg.go
index 348024c5e..7c95eed26 100644
--- a/cmd/kraft/pkg/pkg.go
+++ b/cmd/kraft/pkg/pkg.go
@@ -229,6 +229,19 @@ func (opts *Pkg) Run(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if len(tree) == 0 {
+		switch true {
+		case len(opts.Target) > 0:
+			return fmt.Errorf("no matching targets found for: %s", opts.Target)
+		case len(opts.Architecture) > 0 && len(opts.Platform) == 0:
+			return fmt.Errorf("no matching targets found for architecture: %s", opts.Architecture)
+		case len(opts.Architecture) == 0 && len(opts.Platform) > 0:
+			return fmt.Errorf("no matching targets found for platform: %s", opts.Platform)
+		default:
+			return fmt.Errorf("no matching targets found for: %s/%s", opts.Platform, opts.Architecture)
+		}
+	}
+
 	model, err := processtree.NewProcessTree(
 		ctx,
 		[]processtree.ProcessTreeOption{
diff --git a/tui/processtree/processtree.go b/tui/processtree/processtree.go
index 981e04fe4..1010c666e 100644
--- a/tui/processtree/processtree.go
+++ b/tui/processtree/processtree.go
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ package processtree
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"fmt"
 	"os"
 	"strings"
 	"time"
@@ -77,6 +78,10 @@ type ProcessTree struct {
 }
 
 func NewProcessTree(ctx context.Context, opts []ProcessTreeOption, tree ...*ProcessTreeItem) (*ProcessTree, error) {
+	if len(tree) == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("cannot instantiate process tree without sub processes")
+	}
+
 	pt := &ProcessTree{
 		tree:     tree,
 		ctx:      ctx,