diff --git a/pkg/log/pipeline_reader.go b/pkg/log/pipeline_reader.go
index a9af78dd1..41fbd743b 100644
--- a/pkg/log/pipeline_reader.go
+++ b/pkg/log/pipeline_reader.go
@@ -95,6 +95,13 @@ func (r *Reader) readAvailablePipelineLogs(pr *v1.PipelineRun) (<-chan Log, <-ch
 	}
 
 	taskRuns := taskrunpkg.Filter(ordered, r.tasks)
+	if len(taskRuns) == 0 && len(r.tasks) != 0 {
+		availTasks := []string{}
+		for _, o := range ordered {
+			availTasks = append(availTasks, o.Task)
+		}
+		return nil, nil, fmt.Errorf("passed filtered tasks: %v is not available, available tasks are: %v", r.tasks, availTasks)
+	}
 
 	logC := make(chan Log)
 	errC := make(chan error)
@@ -123,7 +130,7 @@ func (r *Reader) readAvailablePipelineLogs(pr *v1.PipelineRun) (<-chan Log, <-ch
 // and keep checking the status until it changes to true|false
 // or the reach timeout
 func (r *Reader) waitUntilAvailable() error {
-	var first = true
+	first := true
 	opts := metav1.ListOptions{
 		FieldSelector: fields.OneTermEqualSelector("metadata.name", r.run).String(),
 	}