diff --git a/changelog/204.bugfix.rst b/changelog/204.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e50d02f2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/204.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Catch empty return value from data search in `transfer_complete_datasets` and raise a ValueError telling the user what's happening.
diff --git a/dkist/net/helpers.py b/dkist/net/helpers.py
index ec1e851d..794e9485 100644
--- a/dkist/net/helpers.py
+++ b/dkist/net/helpers.py
@@ -21,7 +21,11 @@ def _get_dataset_inventory(dataset_id: str):  # pragma: no cover
     """
     Do a search for a single dataset id
     """
-    return DKISTClient().search(Dataset(dataset_id))
+    results = DKISTClient().search(Dataset(dataset_id))
+    if len(results) == 0:
+        raise ValueError(f"No results available for dataset {dataset_id}")
+
+    return results
 
 
 def transfer_complete_datasets(datasets: Union[str, QueryResponseRow, DKISTQueryResponseTable, UnifiedResponse],
diff --git a/dkist/net/tests/test_helpers.py b/dkist/net/tests/test_helpers.py
index 85218c85..9bec9600 100644
--- a/dkist/net/tests/test_helpers.py
+++ b/dkist/net/tests/test_helpers.py
@@ -44,6 +44,17 @@ def test_download_default_keywords(orchestrate_transfer_mock, keywords):
     )
 
 
+def test_transfer_unavailable_data(mocker):
+    get_inv_mock = mocker.patch(
+        "dkist.net.client.DKISTClient.search",
+        autospec=True,
+        return_value=[],
+    )
+
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="No results available for dataset"):
+        transfer_complete_datasets("null")
+
+
 def test_transfer_from_dataset_id(mocker, orchestrate_transfer_mock):
     get_inv_mock = mocker.patch(
         "dkist.net.helpers._get_dataset_inventory",