diff --git a/.changeset/stale-foxes-joke.md b/.changeset/stale-foxes-joke.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6cc6e12b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/stale-foxes-joke.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+'houdini': patch
+---
+
+fix: check field existence before @list directive to have better error msg
diff --git a/src/cmd/validators/typeCheck.test.ts b/src/cmd/validators/typeCheck.test.ts
index a6167b66c..41532ee57 100755
--- a/src/cmd/validators/typeCheck.test.ts
+++ b/src/cmd/validators/typeCheck.test.ts
@@ -95,6 +95,26 @@ const table: Row[] = [
             `,
 		],
 	},
+	{
+		title: '@list on query on field that doesn t exist',
+		pass: false,
+		documents: [
+			`
+                query TestQuery {
+					user {
+						friends_NOT_EXISTING_FIELD @list(name: "Friends") {
+							id
+						}
+					}
+                }
+            `,
+		],
+		check: (e: any) => {
+			expect(e.message).toMatchInlineSnapshot(
+				'"Could not find definition of friends_NOT_EXISTING_FIELD in User"'
+			)
+		},
+	},
 	{
 		title: '@list with parentID on query',
 		pass: true,
diff --git a/src/cmd/validators/typeCheck.ts b/src/cmd/validators/typeCheck.ts
index af0055c3e..5644cbfd6 100755
--- a/src/cmd/validators/typeCheck.ts
+++ b/src/cmd/validators/typeCheck.ts
@@ -152,7 +152,8 @@ export default async function typeCheck(
 					// @ts-ignore
 					// look at the next entry for a list or something else that would make us
 					// require a parent ID
-					rootType = rootType?.getFields()[parent.name.value].type
+					// if [parent.name.value] doesnt't exist, the document is not valid and it will be catch later
+					rootType = rootType?.getFields()[parent.name.value]?.type
 				}
 
 				// if we found a pagination directive, make sure that it doesn't