diff --git a/ChangeLog.md b/ChangeLog.md
index 7169bf5e2c..0a1d1eebb5 100644
--- a/ChangeLog.md
+++ b/ChangeLog.md
@@ -32,6 +32,8 @@ Other enhancements:
 * The build progress bar reports names of packages currently building.
 * `stack setup --verbose` causes verbose output of GHC configure process.
   See [#3716](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/issues/3716)
+* Improve the error message when an `extra-dep` from a path or git reference can't be found
+  See [#3808](https://github.com/commercialhaskell/stack/pull/3808)
 
 Bug fixes:
 * 1.6.1 introduced a change that made some precompiled cache files use
diff --git a/src/Stack/Types/Package.hs b/src/Stack/Types/Package.hs
index 8591fe40b1..81313e7354 100644
--- a/src/Stack/Types/Package.hs
+++ b/src/Stack/Types/Package.hs
@@ -52,9 +52,10 @@ instance Show PackageException where
         ]
     show (PackageNoCabalFileFound dir) = concat
         [ "Stack looks for packages in the directories configured in"
-        , " the 'packages' variable defined in your stack.yaml\n"
-        , "The current entry points to " ++ toFilePath dir ++
-          " but no .cabal file could be found there."
+        , " the 'packages' and 'extra-deps' fields defined in your stack.yaml\n"
+        , "The current entry points to "
+        , toFilePath dir
+        , " but no .cabal or package.yaml file could be found there."
         ]
     show (PackageMultipleCabalFilesFound dir files) =
         "Multiple .cabal files found in directory " ++