diff --git a/.changeset/selfish-parents-leave.md b/.changeset/selfish-parents-leave.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..206fa08e12
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/selfish-parents-leave.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'astro': patch
+---
+
+Improves the error message when a middleware doesn't return a `Response`
diff --git a/packages/astro/src/core/errors/errors-data.ts b/packages/astro/src/core/errors/errors-data.ts
index 5a1a5fbcc7..047bb53372 100644
--- a/packages/astro/src/core/errors/errors-data.ts
+++ b/packages/astro/src/core/errors/errors-data.ts
@@ -733,8 +733,9 @@ export const ResponseSentError = {
  */
 export const MiddlewareNoDataOrNextCalled = {
 	name: 'MiddlewareNoDataOrNextCalled',
-	title: "The middleware didn't return a response or call `next`.",
-	message: 'The middleware needs to either return a `Response` object or call the `next` function.',
+	title: "The middleware didn't return a `Response`.",
+	message:
+		'Make sure your middleware returns a `Response` object, either directly or by returning the `Response` from calling the `next` function.',
 } satisfies ErrorData;
 
 /**