diff --git a/ice-rest-catalog/src/test/resources/scenarios/basic-operations/run.sh.tmpl b/ice-rest-catalog/src/test/resources/scenarios/basic-operations/run.sh.tmpl
index b71713b3..f6ba3d02 100644
--- a/ice-rest-catalog/src/test/resources/scenarios/basic-operations/run.sh.tmpl
+++ b/ice-rest-catalog/src/test/resources/scenarios/basic-operations/run.sh.tmpl
@@ -97,6 +97,24 @@ echo "OK Scan verified ${TABLE_SORTED}"
 {{ICE_CLI}} --config {{CLI_CONFIG}} describe
 echo "OK Described catalog"
 
+INVALID_NS="invalid_ns"
+{{ICE_CLI}} --config {{CLI_CONFIG}} describe $INVALID_NS > /tmp/basic_ops_describe_invalid_ns.txt 2>&1
+if ! grep -q "Namespace $INVALID_NS not found" /tmp/basic_ops_describe_invalid_ns.txt; then
+  echo "FAIL: describe missing error message for invalid namespace"
+  cat /tmp/basic_ops_describe_invalid_ns.txt
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "OK Describe reported invalid namespace"
+
+INVALID_TABLE="${NAMESPACE_NAME}.invalid_table"
+{{ICE_CLI}} --config {{CLI_CONFIG}} describe $INVALID_TABLE > /tmp/basic_ops_describe_invalid_table.txt 2>&1
+if ! grep -q "Table $INVALID_TABLE not found" /tmp/basic_ops_describe_invalid_table.txt; then
+  echo "FAIL: describe missing error message for invalid table"
+  cat /tmp/basic_ops_describe_invalid_table.txt
+  exit 1
+fi
+echo "OK Describe reported invalid table"
+
 # Optional: --no-copy insert (like README: create-table + upload + insert --no-copy)
 # Upload to MinIO via AWS CLI if available so insert --no-copy can reference s3://
 # This section is best-effort: if it fails we skip rather than failing the whole test.
diff --git a/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/internal/cmd/Describe.java b/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/internal/cmd/Describe.java
index 13f2230a..9e14b0f7 100644
--- a/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/internal/cmd/Describe.java
+++ b/ice/src/main/java/com/altinity/ice/cli/internal/cmd/Describe.java
@@ -34,9 +34,13 @@
 import org.apache.iceberg.rest.RESTCatalog;
 import org.apache.iceberg.types.Conversions;
 import org.apache.iceberg.types.Types;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 public final class Describe {
 
+  private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(Describe.class);
+
   private Describe() {}
 
   public enum Option {
@@ -66,10 +70,12 @@ public static void run(RESTCatalog catalog, String target, boolean json, Option.
 
     List<Table> tablesMetadata = new ArrayList<>();
     List<Namespace> namespaces = catalog.listNamespaces();
+    boolean foundNamespace = false;
     for (Namespace namespace : namespaces) {
       if (targetNamespace != null && !targetNamespace.equals(namespace.toString())) {
         continue;
       }
+      foundNamespace = true;
       List<TableIdentifier> tables = catalog.listTables(namespace);
       for (TableIdentifier tableId : tables) {
         if (targetTable != null && !targetTable.equals(tableId.name())) {
@@ -98,6 +104,12 @@ public static void run(RESTCatalog catalog, String target, boolean json, Option.
       mapper.setSerializationInclusion(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL);
       String output = mapper.writeValueAsString(tablesMetadata);
       System.out.println(output);
+    } else if (targetNamespace != null) {
+      if (targetTable != null) {
+        logger.warn("Table {}.{} not found", targetNamespace, targetTable);
+      } else if (!foundNamespace) {
+        logger.warn("Namespace {} not found", targetNamespace);
+      }
     }
   }