diff --git a/examples/create_custom_sbom/main.go b/examples/create_custom_sbom/main.go
index 11f1757c9..44fa33749 100644
--- a/examples/create_custom_sbom/main.go
+++ b/examples/create_custom_sbom/main.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 
 	"gopkg.in/yaml.v3"
+	_ "modernc.org/sqlite" // required for rpmdb and other features
 
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/cataloging"
diff --git a/examples/create_simple_sbom/main.go b/examples/create_simple_sbom/main.go
index 9116f0561..788e8e530 100644
--- a/examples/create_simple_sbom/main.go
+++ b/examples/create_simple_sbom/main.go
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"fmt"
 	"os"
 
+	_ "modernc.org/sqlite" // required for rpmdb and other features
+
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/format"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/format/syftjson"
diff --git a/examples/select_catalogers/main.go b/examples/select_catalogers/main.go
index 3ff3ecd8d..bc8c6c813 100644
--- a/examples/select_catalogers/main.go
+++ b/examples/select_catalogers/main.go
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"os"
 
+	_ "modernc.org/sqlite" // required for rpmdb and other features
+
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/cataloging"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/cataloging/pkgcataloging"
diff --git a/examples/source_from_registry/main.go b/examples/source_from_registry/main.go
index 158731259..c43ad8afd 100644
--- a/examples/source_from_registry/main.go
+++ b/examples/source_from_registry/main.go
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ import (
 	"context"
 	"os"
 
+	_ "modernc.org/sqlite" // required for rpmdb and other features
+
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/format/syftjson"
 )
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/generic/cataloger.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/generic/cataloger.go
index 77863dd6d..abdad6293 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/generic/cataloger.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/generic/cataloger.go
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ func (p resolvingProcessorWrapper) process(ctx context.Context, resolver file.Re
 type Cataloger struct {
 	processors        []processExecutor
 	requesters        []requester
+	checks            []func() error
 	upstreamCataloger string
 }
 
@@ -127,6 +128,11 @@ func (c *Cataloger) WithResolvingProcessors(processors ...ResolvingProcessor) *C
 	return c
 }
 
+func (c *Cataloger) WithChecks(checks ...func() error) *Cataloger {
+	c.checks = append(c.checks, checks...)
+	return c
+}
+
 func makeRequests(parser Parser, locations []file.Location) []request {
 	var requests []request
 	for _, l := range locations {
@@ -152,6 +158,12 @@ func (c *Cataloger) Name() string {
 
 // Catalog is given an object to resolve file references and content, this function returns any discovered Packages after analyzing the catalog source.
 func (c *Cataloger) Catalog(ctx context.Context, resolver file.Resolver) ([]pkg.Package, []artifact.Relationship, error) {
+	for _, check := range c.checks {
+		if err := check(); err != nil {
+			return nil, nil, err
+		}
+	}
+
 	var packages []pkg.Package
 	var relationships []artifact.Relationship
 
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/redhat/cataloger.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/redhat/cataloger.go
index f2d1c1428..ba065695b 100644
--- a/syft/pkg/cataloger/redhat/cataloger.go
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/redhat/cataloger.go
@@ -5,8 +5,8 @@ package redhat
 
 import (
 	"database/sql"
+	"fmt"
 
-	"github.com/anchore/syft/internal/log"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/artifact"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg"
 	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg/cataloger/generic"
@@ -15,15 +15,11 @@ import (
 
 // NewDBCataloger returns a new RPM DB cataloger object.
 func NewDBCataloger() pkg.Cataloger {
-	// check if a sqlite driver is available
-	if !isSqliteDriverAvailable() {
-		log.Debugf("sqlite driver is not available, newer RPM databases might not be cataloged")
-	}
-
 	return generic.NewCataloger("rpm-db-cataloger").
 		WithParserByGlobs(parseRpmDB, pkg.RpmDBGlob).
 		WithParserByGlobs(parseRpmManifest, pkg.RpmManifestGlob).
-		WithProcessors(dependency.Processor(dbEntryDependencySpecifier), denySelfReferences)
+		WithProcessors(dependency.Processor(dbEntryDependencySpecifier), denySelfReferences).
+		WithChecks(ensureSqliteDriverAvailable)
 }
 
 func denySelfReferences(pkgs []pkg.Package, rels []artifact.Relationship, err error) ([]pkg.Package, []artifact.Relationship, error) {
@@ -47,11 +43,11 @@ func NewArchiveCataloger() pkg.Cataloger {
 		WithParserByGlobs(parseRpmArchive, "**/*.rpm")
 }
 
-func isSqliteDriverAvailable() bool {
+func ensureSqliteDriverAvailable() error {
 	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite", ":memory:")
 	if err != nil {
-		return false
+		return fmt.Errorf("sqlite driver is required for cataloging newer RPM databases, none registered: %v", err)
 	}
 	_ = db.Close()
-	return true
+	return nil
 }
diff --git a/syft/pkg/cataloger/redhat/sqlitetest/no_sqlite_driver_test.go b/syft/pkg/cataloger/redhat/sqlitetest/no_sqlite_driver_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f1a3f17e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/syft/pkg/cataloger/redhat/sqlitetest/no_sqlite_driver_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+package sqlitetest
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/internal/fileresolver"
+	"github.com/anchore/syft/syft/pkg/cataloger/redhat"
+)
+
+func Test_noSQLiteDriverError(t *testing.T) {
+	// this test package does must not import the sqlite library
+	file := "../test-fixtures/Packages"
+	resolver, err := fileresolver.NewFromFile(file, file)
+	require.NoError(t, err)
+
+	cataloger := redhat.NewDBCataloger()
+	_, _, err = cataloger.Catalog(context.TODO(), resolver)
+	require.ErrorContains(t, err, "sqlite")
+}