diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2024-10-27-22-23-57.gh-issue-125873.BG97KU.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2024-10-27-22-23-57.gh-issue-125873.BG97KU.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..fc4818781ee132
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Core_and_Builtins/2024-10-27-22-23-57.gh-issue-125873.BG97KU.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Improved error message when an environment variable is misconfigured.
diff --git a/Python/codecs.c b/Python/codecs.c
index 2cb3875db35058..1f30c5e8e21707 100644
--- a/Python/codecs.c
+++ b/Python/codecs.c
@@ -1526,7 +1526,9 @@ _PyCodec_InitRegistry(PyInterpreterState *interp)
     // search functions, so this is done after everything else is initialized.
     PyObject *mod = PyImport_ImportModule("encodings");
     if (mod == NULL) {
-        return PyStatus_Error("Failed to import encodings module");
+        return PyStatus_Error("Failed to import encodings module. "
+                              "Your environment probably has misconfigured variables! "
+                              "Please check PYTHONHOME otherwise refer to `--help-env`");
     }
     Py_DECREF(mod);