diff --git a/crates/cuddle-please-release-strategy/src/json_edit.rs b/crates/cuddle-please-release-strategy/src/json_edit.rs
index b3a7d51..07aa492 100644
--- a/crates/cuddle-please-release-strategy/src/json_edit.rs
+++ b/crates/cuddle-please-release-strategy/src/json_edit.rs
@@ -37,7 +37,9 @@ impl JsonEditOptions {
                     .ok_or(anyhow::anyhow!("path contains non utf-8 chars"))?,
             )
             .output()
-            .context(anyhow::anyhow!("failed to run jq on file"))?;
+            .context(anyhow::anyhow!(
+                "failed to run jq on file, jq may not be installed or query was invalid"
+            ))?;
 
         if !output.status.success() {
             let err_content = std::str::from_utf8(output.stderr.as_slice())?;