diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@
     message(STATUS "Baloo packages are found")
     set(HAVE_BALOO TRUE)
 else()
+    message(WARNING "Baloo packages not found. They are needed for the metadata features of Dolphin.")
     find_package(KF5 ${KF5_MIN_VERSION} REQUIRED COMPONENTS
         KDELibs4Support # for KFileMetaDataWidget
     )