diff --git a/pkg/model/planner.go b/pkg/model/planner.go
index 1769b732..089d67d9 100644
--- a/pkg/model/planner.go
+++ b/pkg/model/planner.go
@@ -328,8 +328,6 @@ func createStages(w *Workflow, jobIDs ...string) ([]*Stage, error) {
 		jobIDs = newJobIDs
 	}
 
-	var err error
-
 	// next, build an execution graph
 	stages := make([]*Stage, 0)
 	for len(jobDependencies) > 0 {
@@ -350,8 +348,8 @@ func createStages(w *Workflow, jobIDs ...string) ([]*Stage, error) {
 		stages = append(stages, stage)
 	}
 
-	if len(stages) == 0 && err != nil {
-		return nil, err
+	if len(stages) == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("Could not find any stages to run. View the valid jobs with `act --list`. Use `act --help` to find how to filter by Job ID/Workflow/Event Name")
 	}
 
 	return stages, nil
diff --git a/pkg/model/planner_test.go b/pkg/model/planner_test.go
index 551b7b37..e41f6690 100644
--- a/pkg/model/planner_test.go
+++ b/pkg/model/planner_test.go
@@ -39,3 +39,25 @@ func TestPlanner(t *testing.T) {
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func TestWorkflow(t *testing.T) {
+	log.SetLevel(log.DebugLevel)
+
+	workflow := Workflow{
+		Jobs: map[string]*Job{
+			"valid_job": {
+				Name: "valid_job",
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	// Check that an invalid job id returns error
+	result, err := createStages(&workflow, "invalid_job_id")
+	assert.NotNil(t, err)
+	assert.Nil(t, result)
+
+	// Check that an valid job id returns non-error
+	result, err = createStages(&workflow, "valid_job")
+	assert.Nil(t, err)
+	assert.NotNil(t, result)
+}