diff --git a/pkg/cmd/server/server.go b/pkg/cmd/server/server.go
index 107ccf199..d8ac6c313 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/server/server.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/server/server.go
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ func (s *server) run() error {
 
 	if _, err := s.arkClient.ArkV1().BackupStorageLocations(s.namespace).Get(s.config.defaultBackupLocation, metav1.GetOptions{}); err != nil {
 		s.logger.WithError(errors.WithStack(err)).
-			Warnf("Default backup storage location %q not found; backups must explicitly specify a location", s.config.defaultBackupLocation)
+			Warnf("A backup storage location named %s has been specified for the server to use by default, but no corresponding backup storage location exists. Backups with a location not matching the default will need to explicitly specify an existing location", s.config.defaultBackupLocation)
 	}
 
 	if err := s.initRestic(); err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/controller/backup_controller.go b/pkg/controller/backup_controller.go
index 8a886db3b..c98313050 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/backup_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/backup_controller.go
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	jsonpatch "github.com/evanphx/json-patch"
 	"github.com/pkg/errors"
 	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
+	apierrors "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/errors"
 	metav1 "k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/apis/meta/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/labels"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/types"
@@ -274,7 +275,11 @@ func (c *backupController) prepareBackupRequest(backup *api.Backup) *pkgbackup.R
 
 	// validate the storage location, and store the BackupStorageLocation API obj on the request
 	if storageLocation, err := c.backupLocationLister.BackupStorageLocations(request.Namespace).Get(request.Spec.StorageLocation); err != nil {
-		request.Status.ValidationErrors = append(request.Status.ValidationErrors, fmt.Sprintf("Error getting backup storage location: %v", err))
+		if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
+			request.Status.ValidationErrors = append(request.Status.ValidationErrors, fmt.Sprintf("a BackupStorageLocation CRD with the name specified in the backup spec needs to be created before this backup can be executed. Error: %v", err))
+		} else {
+			request.Status.ValidationErrors = append(request.Status.ValidationErrors, fmt.Sprintf("error getting backup storage location: %v", err))
+		}
 	} else {
 		request.StorageLocation = storageLocation
 	}
@@ -309,7 +314,11 @@ func (c *backupController) validateAndGetSnapshotLocations(backup *api.Backup) (
 		// validate each locationName exists as a VolumeSnapshotLocation
 		location, err := c.snapshotLocationLister.VolumeSnapshotLocations(backup.Namespace).Get(locationName)
 		if err != nil {
-			errors = append(errors, fmt.Sprintf("error getting volume snapshot location named %s: %v", locationName, err))
+			if apierrors.IsNotFound(err) {
+				errors = append(errors, fmt.Sprintf("a VolumeSnapshotLocation CRD for the location %s with the name specified in the backup spec needs to be created before this snapshot can be executed. Error: %v", locationName, err))
+			} else {
+				errors = append(errors, fmt.Sprintf("error getting volume snapshot location named %s: %v", locationName, err))
+			}
 			continue
 		}
 
diff --git a/pkg/controller/backup_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/backup_controller_test.go
index 4d9c20c36..41dfb4f2b 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/backup_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/backup_controller_test.go
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ func TestProcessBackupValidationFailures(t *testing.T) {
 		{
 			name:         "non-existent backup location fails validation",
 			backup:       arktest.NewTestBackup().WithName("backup-1").WithStorageLocation("nonexistent").Backup,
-			expectedErrs: []string{"Error getting backup storage location: backupstoragelocation.ark.heptio.com \"nonexistent\" not found"},
+			expectedErrs: []string{"a BackupStorageLocation CRD with the name specified in the backup spec needs to be created before this backup can be executed. Error: backupstoragelocation.ark.heptio.com \"nonexistent\" not found"},
 		},
 	}
 
@@ -370,8 +370,7 @@ func TestValidateAndGetSnapshotLocations(t *testing.T) {
 				arktest.NewTestVolumeSnapshotLocation().WithProvider("aws").WithName("aws-us-west-1"),
 				arktest.NewTestVolumeSnapshotLocation().WithProvider("fake-provider").WithName("some-name"),
 			},
-			expectedErrors:  "error getting volume snapshot location named random-name: volumesnapshotlocation.ark.heptio.com \"random-name\" not found",
-			expectedSuccess: false,
+			expectedErrors: "a VolumeSnapshotLocation CRD for the location random-name with the name specified in the backup spec needs to be created before this snapshot can be executed. Error: volumesnapshotlocation.ark.heptio.com \"random-name\" not found", expectedSuccess: false,
 		},
 		{
 			name:   "duplicate locationName per provider: should filter out dups",