diff --git a/src/extensions/extension-discovery.ts b/src/extensions/extension-discovery.ts
index 1463d6180d..e364a47006 100644
--- a/src/extensions/extension-discovery.ts
+++ b/src/extensions/extension-discovery.ts
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
  */
 
 import { watch } from "chokidar";
-import { ipcRenderer } from "electron";
+import { dialog, ipcRenderer } from "electron";
 import { EventEmitter } from "events";
 import fse from "fs-extra";
 import { observable, reaction, when, makeObservable } from "mobx";
@@ -393,7 +393,14 @@ export class ExtensionDiscovery extends Singleton {
 
     for (const extension of userExtensions) {
       if ((await fse.pathExists(extension.manifestPath)) === false) {
-        await this.installPackage(extension.absolutePath);
+        try {
+          await this.installPackage(extension.absolutePath);
+        } catch (error) {
+          const message = error.message || error?.toString() || "unknown error";
+          const { name, version } = extension.manifest;
+
+          dialog.showErrorBox("Lens Extension Install Failure", `Failed to install user extension ${name}@${version}: ${message}`);
+        }
       }
     }