diff --git a/cli/internal/validate.go b/cli/internal/validate.go
index 7c5896ae..462e023d 100644
--- a/cli/internal/validate.go
+++ b/cli/internal/validate.go
@@ -28,6 +28,9 @@ func ValidateRecipe(c *cli.Context) recipe.Recipe {
 	recipe, err := recipe.Get(recipeName)
 	if err != nil {
 		if c.Command.Name == "generate" {
+			if strings.Contains(err.Error(), "missing a compose") {
+				logrus.Fatal(err)
+			}
 			logrus.Warn(err)
 		} else {
 			logrus.Fatal(err)
diff --git a/pkg/recipe/recipe.go b/pkg/recipe/recipe.go
index 32d36e58..6831abff 100644
--- a/pkg/recipe/recipe.go
+++ b/pkg/recipe/recipe.go
@@ -81,6 +81,10 @@ func Get(recipeName string) (Recipe, error) {
 		return Recipe{}, err
 	}
 
+	if len(composeFiles) == 0 {
+		return Recipe{}, fmt.Errorf("%s is missing a compose.yml or compose.*.yml file?", recipeName)
+	}
+
 	envSamplePath := path.Join(config.ABRA_DIR, "apps", recipeName, ".env.sample")
 	sampleEnv, err := config.ReadEnv(envSamplePath)
 	if err != nil {