diff --git a/crates/uv/tests/it/common/mod.rs b/crates/uv/tests/it/common/mod.rs
index fcda2d205..e0ad3c6ef 100644
--- a/crates/uv/tests/it/common/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/uv/tests/it/common/mod.rs
@@ -1790,7 +1790,7 @@ pub fn python_installations_for_versions(
             ) {
                 python.into_interpreter().sys_executable().to_owned()
             } else {
-                panic!("Could not find Python {python_version} for test");
+                panic!("Could not find Python {python_version} for test\nTry `cargo run python install` first, or refer to CONTRIBUTING.md");
             }
         })
         .collect::<Vec<_>>();