diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 17881be..3c52ee8 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -91,19 +91,23 @@ list(APPEND mdio_TEST_COPTS
     "-Wno-unknown-warning-option")
 
 # Define the internal dependencies that should be linked
-set(mdio_INTERNAL_DEPS
-  tensorstore::driver_array
-  tensorstore::driver_zarr
-  tensorstore::driver_json
-  tensorstore::kvstore_file
-  tensorstore::kvstore_memory
-  tensorstore::tensorstore
-  tensorstore::index_space_dim_expression
-  tensorstore::index_space_index_transform
-  tensorstore::util_status_testutil
-  tensorstore::driver_array
-  PARENT_SCOPE
-)
+if(NOT CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR STREQUAL CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR)
+  # This is not the top-level project
+  set(mdio_INTERNAL_DEPS
+    tensorstore::driver_array
+    tensorstore::driver_zarr
+    tensorstore::driver_json
+    tensorstore::kvstore_file
+    tensorstore::kvstore_memory
+    tensorstore::tensorstore
+    tensorstore::index_space_dim_expression
+    tensorstore::index_space_index_transform
+    tensorstore::util_status_testutil
+    tensorstore::kvstore_gcs
+    tensorstore::driver_array
+    PARENT_SCOPE
+  )
+endif()
 
 # Define internal deps for cloud specific drivers
 set(mdio_INTERNAL_GCS_DRIVER_DEPS
diff --git a/mdio/dataset.h b/mdio/dataset.h
index 394e0c1..b5154f7 100644
--- a/mdio/dataset.h
+++ b/mdio/dataset.h
@@ -293,8 +293,14 @@ from_zmetadata(const std::string& dataset_path) {
   //  FIXME - enable async
   auto kvs_future = mdio::internal::dataset_kvs_store(dataset_path).result();
 
+  if (!kvs_future.ok()) {
+    return internal::CheckMissingDriverStatus(kvs_future.status());
+  }
   auto kvs_read_result =
       tensorstore::kvstore::Read(kvs_future.value(), ".zmetadata").result();
+  if (!kvs_read_result.ok()) {
+    return internal::CheckMissingDriverStatus(kvs_read_result.status());
+  }
 
   ::nlohmann::json zmetadata;
   try {
diff --git a/mdio/variable.h b/mdio/variable.h
index 364bb19..9b8aca8 100644
--- a/mdio/variable.h
+++ b/mdio/variable.h
@@ -80,6 +80,41 @@ struct SliceDescriptor {
 };
 
 namespace internal {
+
+/**
+ * @brief Checks a status for a missing driver message and returns an MDIO
+ * specific error message.
+ * @param status The status to check
+ * @return A driver specific message if the status is a missing driver message,
+ * otherwise the original status.
+ */
+absl::Status CheckMissingDriverStatus(const absl::Status& status) {
+  std::string error(status.message());
+  if (error.find("Error parsing object member \"driver\"") !=
+      std::string::npos) {
+    if (error.find("is not registered") != std::string::npos) {
+      if (error.find("gcs") != std::string::npos) {
+        return absl::InvalidArgumentError(
+            "A GCS path was detected but the GCS driver was not "
+            "registered.\nPlease ensure that your CMake includes the "
+            "mdio_INTERNAL_GCS_DRIVER_DEPS variable.");
+      } else if (error.find("s3") != std::string::npos) {
+        return absl::InvalidArgumentError(
+            "An S3 path was detected but the S3 driver was not "
+            "registered.\nPlease ensure that your CMake includes the "
+            "mdio_INTERNAL_S3_DRIVER_DEPS variable.");
+      } else {
+        return absl::InvalidArgumentError(
+            "An unexpected driver registration error has occured. Please file "
+            "a bug report with the error message to "
+            "https://github.com/TGSAI/mdio-cpp/issues\n" +
+            error);
+      }
+    }
+  }
+  return status;
+}
+
 /**
  * @brief Validates and processes a JSON specification for a tensorstore
  * variable.
@@ -358,7 +393,7 @@ Future<Variable<T, R, M>> CreateVariable(const nlohmann::json& json_spec,
           tensorstore::ReadyFuture<void> readyFut) {
         auto ready_result = readyFut.result();
         if (!ready_result.ok()) {
-          promise.SetResult(ready_result.status());
+          promise.SetResult(CheckMissingDriverStatus(ready_result.status()));
         } else {
           promise.SetResult(variable_future.result());
         }