diff --git a/maigret/__init__.py b/maigret/__init__.py
index 3cf3f11..8f8024c 100644
--- a/maigret/__init__.py
+++ b/maigret/__init__.py
@@ -7,7 +7,18 @@ __author_email__ = 'soxoj@protonmail.com'
 
 
 from .__version__ import __version__
-from .checking import maigret as search
+try:
+    from .checking import maigret as search
+except ImportError as e:
+    raise ImportError(
+        "Missing required dependency while starting Maigret.\n\n"
+        "If installed from PyPI:\n"
+        "    pip install -U maigret\n\n"
+        "If running from a cloned repository:\n"
+        "    pip install -e .\n\n"
+        "Then run Maigret as:\n"
+        "    python -m maigret <username>"
+    ) from e
 from .maigret import main as cli
 from .sites import MaigretEngine, MaigretSite, MaigretDatabase
 from .notify import QueryNotifyPrint as Notifier
diff --git a/maigret/maigret.py b/maigret/maigret.py
index c33277e..f3d0bfa 100755
--- a/maigret/maigret.py
+++ b/maigret/maigret.py
@@ -13,7 +13,19 @@ from argparse import ArgumentParser, RawDescriptionHelpFormatter
 from typing import List, Tuple
 import os.path as path
 
-from socid_extractor import extract, parse  # type: ignore[import-not-found]
+try:
+    from socid_extractor import extract, parse
+except ImportError as e:
+    raise ImportError(
+        "Missing dependency: socid_extractor\n\n"
+        "If installed from PyPI:\n"
+        "    pip install -U maigret\n\n"
+        "If running from a cloned repository:\n"
+        "    pip install -e .\n\n"
+        "Then run Maigret as:\n"
+        "    python -m maigret <username>"
+    ) from e
+
 
 from .__version__ import __version__
 from .checking import (