diff --git a/src/poetry/console/commands/show.py b/src/poetry/console/commands/show.py
index e9fcefec3ce..5f0e4c12a78 100644
--- a/src/poetry/console/commands/show.py
+++ b/src/poetry/console/commands/show.py
@@ -130,6 +130,13 @@ def handle(self) -> Optional[int]:
         if self.option("default"):
             only_groups.append("default")
 
+        if not self.poetry.locker.is_locked():
+            self.line_error(
+                "<error>Error: poetry.lock not found. Run `poetry lock` to create"
+                " it.</error>"
+            )
+            return 1
+
         locked_repo = self.poetry.locker.locked_repository(True)
 
         if only_groups:
diff --git a/tests/console/commands/test_show.py b/tests/console/commands/test_show.py
index d5604b86cb1..06c13cd9427 100644
--- a/tests/console/commands/test_show.py
+++ b/tests/console/commands/test_show.py
@@ -1587,3 +1587,13 @@ def test_show_required_by_deps(
 """.splitlines()
     actual = [line.rstrip() for line in tester.io.fetch_output().splitlines()]
     assert actual == expected
+
+
+def test_show_errors_without_lock_file(tester: "CommandTester", poetry: "Poetry"):
+    assert not poetry.locker.lock.exists()
+
+    tester.execute()
+
+    expected = "Error: poetry.lock not found. Run `poetry lock` to create it.\n"
+    assert tester.io.fetch_error() == expected
+    assert tester.status_code == 1