diff --git a/pkg/controller/restore_controller.go b/pkg/controller/restore_controller.go
index 804d2b467..02a971715 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/restore_controller.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/restore_controller.go
@@ -297,6 +297,8 @@ func (controller *restoreController) getValidationErrors(itm *api.Restore) []str
 
 	if itm.Spec.BackupName == "" {
 		validationErrors = append(validationErrors, "BackupName must be non-empty and correspond to the name of a backup in object storage.")
+	} else if _, err := controller.fetchBackup(controller.bucket, itm.Spec.BackupName); err != nil {
+		validationErrors = append(validationErrors, fmt.Sprintf("Error retrieving backup: %v", err))
 	}
 
 	includedResources := sets.NewString(itm.Spec.IncludedResources...)
diff --git a/pkg/controller/restore_controller_test.go b/pkg/controller/restore_controller_test.go
index 0462a55ac..c75ab28f0 100644
--- a/pkg/controller/restore_controller_test.go
+++ b/pkg/controller/restore_controller_test.go
@@ -183,8 +183,8 @@ func TestProcessRestore(t *testing.T) {
 			name:                        "restore with non-existent backup name fails",
 			restore:                     arktest.NewTestRestore("foo", "bar", api.RestorePhaseNew).WithBackup("backup-1").WithIncludedNamespace("ns-1").Restore,
 			expectedErr:                 false,
-			expectedPhase:               string(api.RestorePhaseInProgress),
-			expectedRestoreErrors:       1,
+			expectedPhase:               string(api.RestorePhaseFailedValidation),
+			expectedValidationErrors:    []string{"Error retrieving backup: no backup here"},
 			backupServiceGetBackupError: errors.New("no backup here"),
 		},
 		{