diff --git a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/export_types/common/lib/screenshots/get_element_position_data.ts b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/export_types/common/lib/screenshots/get_element_position_data.ts
index 927cf9ec7d80..ce51dc2317c7 100644
--- a/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/export_types/common/lib/screenshots/get_element_position_data.ts
+++ b/x-pack/legacy/plugins/reporting/export_types/common/lib/screenshots/get_element_position_data.ts
@@ -47,5 +47,11 @@ export const getElementPositionAndAttributes = async (
     args: [layout.selectors.screenshot, { title: 'data-title', description: 'data-description' }],
   });
 
+  if (elementsPositionAndAttributes.length === 0) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `No shared items containers were found on the page! Reporting requires a container element with the '${layout.selectors.screenshot}' attribute on the page.`
+    );
+  }
+
   return elementsPositionAndAttributes;
 };