diff --git a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/scale/scale.go b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/scale/scale.go
index f2a6a6b8d83..d32f8ed9768 100644
--- a/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/scale/scale.go
+++ b/staging/src/k8s.io/kubectl/pkg/cmd/scale/scale.go
@@ -229,6 +229,9 @@ func (o *ScaleOptions) RunScale() error {
 	}
 
 	if len(infos) == 0 {
+		if infoErr != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("no objects passed to scale %w", infoErr)
+		}
 		return fmt.Errorf("no objects passed to scale")
 	}