diff --git a/internal/turso/tursoServer.go b/internal/turso/tursoServer.go
index 2f082c19..cee6583b 100644
--- a/internal/turso/tursoServer.go
+++ b/internal/turso/tursoServer.go
@@ -459,7 +459,7 @@ func (i *TursoServerClient) Export(outputFile string, withMetadata bool, remoteE
 	}
 	defer res.Body.Close()
 	if res.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
-		return parseResponseError(res)
+		return parseExportResponseError(res)
 	}
 	var info ExportInfo
 	if err := json.NewDecoder(res.Body).Decode(&info); err != nil {
@@ -472,7 +472,7 @@ func (i *TursoServerClient) Export(outputFile string, withMetadata bool, remoteE
 	}
 	defer exportRes.Body.Close()
 	if exportRes.StatusCode != http.StatusOK {
-		return parseResponseError(exportRes)
+		return parseExportResponseError(exportRes)
 	}
 
 	out, err := os.Create(outputFile)
@@ -497,6 +497,13 @@ func (i *TursoServerClient) Export(outputFile string, withMetadata bool, remoteE
 	return nil
 }
 
+func parseExportResponseError(res *http.Response) error {
+	if res.StatusCode == http.StatusNotFound {
+		return errors.New("database export is not available for this database. If this is a Fly-hosted database, use `turso db shell <database> .dump` to create a SQL dump instead")
+	}
+	return parseResponseError(res)
+}
+
 func (i *TursoServerClient) ExportWAL(outputFile string, info *ExportInfo, remoteEncryptionKey string) (int, error) {
 	walFile := outputFile + "-wal"
 	walOut, err := os.Create(walFile)
diff --git a/internal/turso/tursoServer_test.go b/internal/turso/tursoServer_test.go
index 8b1a3a07..bb62b1b8 100644
--- a/internal/turso/tursoServer_test.go
+++ b/internal/turso/tursoServer_test.go
@@ -907,6 +907,22 @@ func TestUploadFileMultipart_SmoothProgress(t *testing.T) {
 	require.True(t, calls[len(calls)-1].Done, "Final callback should have Done=true")
 }
 
+func TestExportReportsUnsupportedDatabaseForNotFound(t *testing.T) {
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		require.Equal(t, "/info", r.URL.Path)
+		w.WriteHeader(http.StatusNotFound)
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	client := createTestClient(t, server.URL)
+	err := client.Export("unused.db", false, "")
+
+	require.Error(t, err)
+	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "database export is not available")
+	require.Contains(t, err.Error(), "Fly-hosted database")
+	require.NotContains(t, err.Error(), "response failed with status 404 Not Found")
+}
+
 // infiniteReader provides unlimited bytes for large file simulation (never returns EOF)
 type infiniteReader struct {
 	bytesRead int64