diff --git a/cadquery/occ_impl/shapes.py b/cadquery/occ_impl/shapes.py
index 7eb28caca..76e13e0c6 100644
--- a/cadquery/occ_impl/shapes.py
+++ b/cadquery/occ_impl/shapes.py
@@ -3631,6 +3631,13 @@ def makeNSidedSurface(
         # build, fix and return
         n_sided.Build()
 
+        # Fail clearly if the solver could not converge (otherwise StdFail_NotDone is issued)
+        if not n_sided.IsDone():
+            raise ValueError(
+                "makeNSidedSurface: The filling algorithm failed to converge. "
+                "Try a larger nbPtsOnCur or degree, or a looser tol3d"
+            )
+
         face = n_sided.Shape()
 
         return Face(face).fix()
diff --git a/tests/test_cadquery.py b/tests/test_cadquery.py
index a1de3c957..a3582d603 100644
--- a/tests/test_cadquery.py
+++ b/tests/test_cadquery.py
@@ -5746,6 +5746,10 @@ def test_makeNSidedSurface(self):
         with raises(ValueError):
             Face.makeNSidedSurface(outer_w, [[0, 0, 1]])
 
+        # empty boundary so that filler reports not-done
+        with raises(ValueError):
+            Face.makeNSidedSurface([], [])
+
     def test_toVtk(self):
 
         from vtkmodules.vtkCommonDataModel import vtkPolyData