diff --git a/.changeset/thirty-hairs-pump.md b/.changeset/thirty-hairs-pump.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..acb4d1da23
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/thirty-hairs-pump.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'@astrojs/rss': patch
+---
+
+Improves the `@astrojs/rss` error message thrown when the object passed to the `items` property is missing any of the three required keys or if one of those keys is mistyped.
diff --git a/packages/astro-rss/src/index.ts b/packages/astro-rss/src/index.ts
index 48c5defe85..738e696f39 100644
--- a/packages/astro-rss/src/index.ts
+++ b/packages/astro-rss/src/index.ts
@@ -110,8 +110,21 @@ async function validateRssOptions(rssOptions: RSSOptions) {
 		[
 			`[RSS] Invalid or missing options:`,
 			...parsedResult.error.errors.map(
-				(zodError) => `${zodError.message} (${zodError.path.join('.')})`
-			),
+				(zodError) => {
+					const path = zodError.path.join('.');
+					const message = `${zodError.message} (${path})`;
+					const code = zodError.code;
+
+					if (path === 'items' && code === 'invalid_union') {
+						return [
+							message,
+						`The \`items\` property requires properly typed \`title\`, \`pubDate\`, and \`link\` keys.`,
+						`Check your collection's schema, and visit https://docs.astro.build/en/guides/rss/#generating-items for more info.`
+						].join('\n')
+					}
+
+					return message;
+				}),
 		].join('\n')
 	);
 	throw formattedError;