diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/initializer/init.go b/pkg/skaffold/initializer/init.go
index 5189572ba54..4f2701096e7 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/initializer/init.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/initializer/init.go
@@ -116,13 +116,13 @@ func DoInit(out io.Writer, c Config) error {
 	}
 	images := k.GetImages()
 	if c.Analyze {
-		return printAnalyzeJSON(out, dockerfiles, images)
+		return printAnalyzeJSON(out, c.SkipBuild, dockerfiles, images)
 	}
 	var pairs []dockerfilePair
 	// conditionally generate build artifacts
 	if !c.SkipBuild {
 		if len(dockerfiles) == 0 {
-			return errors.New("one or more valid Dockerfiles must be present to run skaffold; please provide at least one Dockerfile and try again")
+			return errors.New("one or more valid Dockerfiles must be present to build images with skaffold; please provide at least one Dockerfile and try again or run `skaffold init --skip-build`")
 		}
 
 		if c.CliArtifacts != nil {
@@ -289,7 +289,10 @@ func generateSkaffoldPipeline(k Initializer, dockerfilePairs []dockerfilePair) (
 	return pipelineStr, nil
 }
 
-func printAnalyzeJSON(out io.Writer, dockerfiles, images []string) error {
+func printAnalyzeJSON(out io.Writer, skipBuild bool, dockerfiles, images []string) error {
+	if !skipBuild && len(dockerfiles) == 0 {
+		return errors.New("one or more valid Dockerfiles must be present to build images with skaffold; please provide at least one Dockerfile and try again or run `skaffold init --skip-build`")
+	}
 	a := struct {
 		Dockerfiles []string `json:"dockerfiles,omitempty"`
 		Images      []string `json:"images,omitempty"`
diff --git a/pkg/skaffold/initializer/init_test.go b/pkg/skaffold/initializer/init_test.go
index 9e0c5440c7e..12c12ed2a2d 100644
--- a/pkg/skaffold/initializer/init_test.go
+++ b/pkg/skaffold/initializer/init_test.go
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ func TestPrintAnalyzeJSON(t *testing.T) {
 		name        string
 		dockerfiles []string
 		images      []string
+		skipBuild   bool
+		shouldErr   bool
 		expected    string
 	}{
 		{
@@ -37,25 +39,25 @@ func TestPrintAnalyzeJSON(t *testing.T) {
 			expected:    "{\"dockerfiles\":[\"Dockerfile\",\"Dockerfile_2\"],\"images\":[\"image1\",\"image2\"]}",
 		},
 		{
-			name:     "no dockerfile",
-			images:   []string{"image1", "image2"},
-			expected: "{\"images\":[\"image1\",\"image2\"]}",
-		},
+			name:      "no dockerfile, skip build",
+			images:    []string{"image1", "image2"},
+			skipBuild: true,
+			expected:  "{\"images\":[\"image1\",\"image2\"]}"},
 		{
-			name:        "no images",
-			dockerfiles: []string{"Dockerfile", "Dockerfile_2"},
-			expected:    "{\"dockerfiles\":[\"Dockerfile\",\"Dockerfile_2\"]}",
+			name:      "no dockerfile",
+			images:    []string{"image1", "image2"},
+			shouldErr: true,
 		},
 		{
-			name:     "no dockerfiles or images",
-			expected: "{}",
+			name:      "no dockerfiles or images",
+			shouldErr: true,
 		},
 	}
 	for _, test := range tests {
 		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
 			out := bytes.NewBuffer([]byte{})
-			err := printAnalyzeJSON(out, test.dockerfiles, test.images)
-			testutil.CheckErrorAndDeepEqual(t, false, err, test.expected, out.String())
+			err := printAnalyzeJSON(out, test.skipBuild, test.dockerfiles, test.images)
+			testutil.CheckErrorAndDeepEqual(t, test.shouldErr, err, test.expected, out.String())
 		})
 	}
 }