diff --git a/crates/pacdef_core/src/core.rs b/crates/pacdef_core/src/core.rs
index 157296e..f73aa7a 100644
--- a/crates/pacdef_core/src/core.rs
+++ b/crates/pacdef_core/src/core.rs
@@ -92,6 +92,10 @@ impl Pacdef {
     fn get_missing_packages(&mut self) -> Result<ToDoPerBackend> {
         let mut to_install = ToDoPerBackend::new();
 
+        if self.groups.is_empty() {
+            eprintln!("WARNING: no group files found");
+        }
+
         for mut backend in Backends::iter() {
             if self
                 .config
@@ -157,6 +161,10 @@ impl Pacdef {
     }
 
     fn edit_groups(&self, groups: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
+        if self.groups.is_empty() {
+            eprintln!("WARNING: no group files found");
+        }
+
         let group_files = get_group_file_paths_matching_args(groups, &self.groups)
             .context("getting group files for args")?;
 
@@ -193,6 +201,10 @@ impl Pacdef {
     ///
     /// This function will propagate errors.
     fn get_unmanaged_packages(&mut self) -> Result<ToDoPerBackend> {
+        if self.groups.is_empty() {
+            eprintln!("WARNING: no group files found");
+        }
+
         let mut result = ToDoPerBackend::new();
 
         for mut backend in Backends::iter() {
@@ -220,6 +232,10 @@ impl Pacdef {
     }
 
     fn show_groups(self) -> Result<()> {
+        if self.groups.is_empty() {
+            eprintln!("WARNING: no group files found");
+        }
+
         let mut vec: Vec<_> = self.groups.iter().collect();
         vec.sort_unstable();
         for g in vec {
@@ -250,6 +266,10 @@ impl Pacdef {
     }
 
     fn show_group_content(&self, args: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
+        if self.groups.is_empty() {
+            eprintln!("WARNING: no group files found");
+        }
+
         let mut errors = vec![];
         let mut groups = vec![];
 
@@ -328,6 +348,10 @@ impl Pacdef {
     }
 
     fn remove_groups(&self, groups: &[String]) -> Result<()> {
+        if self.groups.is_empty() {
+            eprintln!("WARNING: no group files found");
+        }
+
         let paths = get_group_file_paths_matching_args(groups, &self.groups)?;
 
         for file in paths {
diff --git a/crates/pacdef_core/src/grouping/group.rs b/crates/pacdef_core/src/grouping/group.rs
index 5c39fcf..ea59891 100644
--- a/crates/pacdef_core/src/grouping/group.rs
+++ b/crates/pacdef_core/src/grouping/group.rs
@@ -25,9 +25,8 @@ pub struct Group {
 impl Group {
     /// Load all group files from the pacdef group dir by traversing through the group dir.
     ///
-    /// This method will print a warning if
-    /// - there are no files under `group_dir`, or
-    /// - `warn_not_symlinks` is true and a group file is not a symlink.
+    /// This method will print a warning if `warn_not_symlinks` is true and a group
+    /// file is not a symlink.
     ///
     /// # Errors
     ///
@@ -65,10 +64,6 @@ impl Group {
             result.insert(group);
         }
 
-        if result.is_empty() {
-            eprintln!("WARNING: no group files found");
-        }
-
         Ok(result)
     }
 }
diff --git a/crates/pacdef_core/src/search.rs b/crates/pacdef_core/src/search.rs
index 7d3e160..02eabb8 100644
--- a/crates/pacdef_core/src/search.rs
+++ b/crates/pacdef_core/src/search.rs
@@ -17,6 +17,11 @@ use crate::grouping::{Group, Package, Section};
 /// - an invalid regex was provided, or
 /// - no matching packages could be found.
 pub fn search_packages(regex_str: &str, groups: &HashSet<Group>) -> Result<()> {
+    if groups.is_empty() {
+        eprintln!("WARNING: no group files found");
+        bail!(crate::errors::Error::NoPackagesFound);
+    }
+
     let re = Regex::new(regex_str)?;
 
     let mut vec = vec![];