diff --git a/sky/engine/platform/fonts/fuchsia/FontCacheFuchsia.cpp b/sky/engine/platform/fonts/fuchsia/FontCacheFuchsia.cpp
index 46fa2a169cb34e5c55bca9032e4bcef3d44a9e80..1e14d4fe65bf0264e59397286365359806cd9fe2 100644
--- a/sky/engine/platform/fonts/fuchsia/FontCacheFuchsia.cpp
+++ b/sky/engine/platform/fonts/fuchsia/FontCacheFuchsia.cpp
@@ -119,6 +119,11 @@ sk_sp<SkTypeface> FontCache::createTypeface(
       [&response](fonts::FontResponsePtr r) { response = std::move(r); });
   font_provider.WaitForIncomingResponse();
 
+  FTL_DCHECK(response)
+      << "Unable to contact the font provider. Did you run "
+         "Flutter in an environment that has a font manager?\n"
+         "See <https://fuchsia.googlesource.com/modular/+/master/README.md>.";
+
   if (!response)
     return nullptr;