diff --git a/pkgs/agenix.nix b/pkgs/agenix.nix
index ec4bcd8..d6a5dc0 100644
--- a/pkgs/agenix.nix
+++ b/pkgs/agenix.nix
@@ -111,6 +111,10 @@ function edit {
         if [ -f "$HOME/.ssh/id_ed25519" ]; then
             DECRYPT+=(--identity "$HOME/.ssh/id_ed25519")
         fi
+        if [[ "''${DECRYPT[*]}" != *"--identity"* ]]; then
+          echo "No identity found to decrypt $FILE. Try adding an SSH key at $HOME/.ssh/id_rsa or $HOME/.ssh/id_ed25519 or using the --identity flag to specify a file."
+          exit 1
+        fi
         DECRYPT+=(-o "$CLEARTEXT_FILE" "$FILE")
         ${ageBin} "''${DECRYPT[@]}" || exit 1
         cp "$CLEARTEXT_FILE" "$CLEARTEXT_FILE.before"