diff --git a/src/main/java/rife/bld/dependencies/DependencyResolver.java b/src/main/java/rife/bld/dependencies/DependencyResolver.java
index 8f61937..5eccd6e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/rife/bld/dependencies/DependencyResolver.java
+++ b/src/main/java/rife/bld/dependencies/DependencyResolver.java
@@ -365,7 +365,16 @@ private MavenMetadata parseMavenMetadata(List<RepositoryArtifact> artifacts) {
         }
 
         if (metadata == null) {
-            throw new ArtifactNotFoundException(dependency_, artifacts.stream().map(RepositoryArtifact::location).collect(Collectors.joining(", ")));
+            var location = artifacts.stream().map(RepositoryArtifact::location).collect(Collectors.joining(", "));
+            if (location.isEmpty()) {
+                if (repositories_.isEmpty()) {
+                    location = "[no repositories defined]";
+                }
+                else {
+                    location = "[no metadata locations defined]";
+                }
+            }
+            throw new ArtifactNotFoundException(dependency_, location);
         }
 
         var xml = new Xml2MavenMetadata();
@@ -414,7 +423,16 @@ Xml2MavenPom getMavenPom(Dependency parent) {
         }
 
         if (pom == null) {
-            throw new ArtifactNotFoundException(dependency_, artifacts.stream().map(RepositoryArtifact::location).collect(Collectors.joining(", ")));
+            var location = artifacts.stream().map(RepositoryArtifact::location).collect(Collectors.joining(", "));
+            if (location.isEmpty()) {
+                if (repositories_.isEmpty()) {
+                    location = "[no repositories defined]";
+                }
+                else {
+                    location = "[no pom locations defined]";
+                }
+            }
+            throw new ArtifactNotFoundException(dependency_, location);
         }
 
         var xml = new Xml2MavenPom(parent, retriever_, repositories_);