diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 5172c40d8..476bdce98 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@
   [#1583](https://github.com/NeurodataWithoutBorders/pynwb/pull/1583)
 - Update round trip tutorial to the newer ``NWBH5IOMixin`` and ``AcquisitionH5IOMixin`` classes. @bendichter 
   [#1586](https://github.com/NeurodataWithoutBorders/pynwb/pull/1586)
+- More informative error message for common installation error. @bendichter, @rly
+  [#1591](https://github.com/NeurodataWithoutBorders/pynwb/pull/1591)
 
 ## PyNWB 2.2.0 (October 19, 2022)
 
diff --git a/src/pynwb/__init__.py b/src/pynwb/__init__.py
index 6cf7d7656..d1f5cd0bc 100644
--- a/src/pynwb/__init__.py
+++ b/src/pynwb/__init__.py
@@ -101,10 +101,16 @@ def load_namespaces(**kwargs):
     return __TYPE_MAP.load_namespaces(namespace_path)
 
 
-# load the core namespace i.e. base NWB specification
+# load the core namespace, i.e. base NWB specification
 __resources = __get_resources()
 if os.path.exists(__resources['namespace_path']):
     load_namespaces(__resources['namespace_path'])
+else:
+    raise RuntimeError(
+        "'core' is not a registered namespace. If you installed PyNWB locally using a git clone, you need to "
+        "use the --recurse_submodules flag when cloning. See developer installation instructions here: "
+        "https://pynwb.readthedocs.io/en/stable/install_developers.html#install-from-git-repository"
+    )
 
 
 def available_namespaces():