diff --git a/internal/resolution/variablesources/bundle_deployment_test.go b/internal/resolution/variablesources/bundle_deployment_test.go
index a5e356cf1..6a0dafa20 100644
--- a/internal/resolution/variablesources/bundle_deployment_test.go
+++ b/internal/resolution/variablesources/bundle_deployment_test.go
@@ -164,6 +164,6 @@ var _ = Describe("BundleDeploymentVariableSource", func() {
 
 		bdVariableSource := variablesources.NewBundleDeploymentVariableSource(operators, bundleDeployments, testBundleList, &MockRequiredPackageSource{})
 		_, err := bdVariableSource.GetVariables(context.Background())
-		Expect(err.Error()).To(Equal("bundleImage \"quay.io/operatorhubio/prometheus@sha256:nonexistent\" not found"))
+		Expect(err.Error()).To(Equal(`bundle with image "quay.io/operatorhubio/prometheus@sha256:nonexistent" not found in available catalogs but is currently installed via BundleDeployment "prometheus"`))
 	})
 })
diff --git a/internal/resolution/variablesources/installed_package.go b/internal/resolution/variablesources/installed_package.go
index ae409f052..c8133d0de 100644
--- a/internal/resolution/variablesources/installed_package.go
+++ b/internal/resolution/variablesources/installed_package.go
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ func MakeInstalledPackageVariables(
 		// find corresponding bundle for the installed content
 		resultSet := catalogfilter.Filter(allBundles, catalogfilter.WithBundleImage(bundleImage))
 		if len(resultSet) == 0 {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("bundleImage %q not found", bundleImage)
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("bundle with image %q not found in available catalogs but is currently installed via BundleDeployment %q", bundleImage, bundleDeployment.Name)
 		}
 
 		sort.SliceStable(resultSet, func(i, j int) bool {
diff --git a/internal/resolution/variablesources/installed_package_test.go b/internal/resolution/variablesources/installed_package_test.go
index 73d0cc3b9..bd9271de7 100644
--- a/internal/resolution/variablesources/installed_package_test.go
+++ b/internal/resolution/variablesources/installed_package_test.go
@@ -385,6 +385,6 @@ func TestMakeInstalledPackageVariables(t *testing.T) {
 			},
 		)
 		assert.Nil(t, installedPackages)
-		assert.ErrorContains(t, err, `bundleImage "registry.io/repo/test-package@v9.0.0" not found`)
+		assert.ErrorContains(t, err, `bundle with image "registry.io/repo/test-package@v9.0.0" not found in available catalogs but is currently installed via BundleDeployment "test-package-bd"`)
 	})
 }