diff --git a/code/lib/core-common/src/presets.test.ts b/code/lib/core-common/src/presets.test.ts
index 92b27dbdcd22..667f1d01781e 100644
--- a/code/lib/core-common/src/presets.test.ts
+++ b/code/lib/core-common/src/presets.test.ts
@@ -102,6 +102,12 @@ describe('presets', () => {
     await expect(testPresets()).resolves.toBeUndefined();
   });
 
+  it('throws when preset can not be loaded and is critical', async () => {
+    const { getPresets } = jest.requireActual('./presets');
+
+    await expect(getPresets(['preset-foo'], { isCritical: true })).rejects.toThrow();
+  });
+
   it('loads and applies presets when they are combined in another preset', async () => {
     mockPreset('preset-foo', {
       foo: (exec: string[]) => exec.concat('foo'),
diff --git a/code/lib/core-common/src/presets.ts b/code/lib/core-common/src/presets.ts
index 7680d3292abc..0d1de949aa7c 100644
--- a/code/lib/core-common/src/presets.ts
+++ b/code/lib/core-common/src/presets.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import type {
   Presets,
 } from '@storybook/types';
 import { join, parse } from 'path';
+import { CriticalPresetLoadError } from '@storybook/core-events/server-errors';
 import { loadCustomPresets } from './utils/load-custom-presets';
 import { safeResolve, safeResolveFrom } from './utils/safeResolve';
 import { interopRequireDefault } from './utils/interpret-require';
@@ -218,9 +219,10 @@ export async function loadPreset(
   level: number,
   storybookOptions: InterPresetOptions
 ): Promise<LoadedPreset[]> {
+  // @ts-expect-error (Converted from ts-ignore)
+  const presetName: string = input.name ? input.name : input;
+
   try {
-    // @ts-expect-error (Converted from ts-ignore)
-    const name: string = input.name ? input.name : input;
     // @ts-expect-error (Converted from ts-ignore)
     const presetOptions = input.options ? input.options : {};
 
@@ -250,7 +252,7 @@ export async function loadPreset(
           storybookOptions
         )),
         {
-          name,
+          name: presetName,
           preset: rest,
           options: presetOptions,
         },
@@ -260,14 +262,21 @@ export async function loadPreset(
     throw new Error(dedent`
       ${input} is not a valid preset
     `);
-  } catch (e: any) {
+  } catch (error: any) {
+    if (storybookOptions?.isCritical) {
+      throw new CriticalPresetLoadError({
+        error,
+        presetName,
+      });
+    }
+
     const warning =
       level > 0
         ? `  Failed to load preset: ${JSON.stringify(input)} on level ${level}`
         : `  Failed to load preset: ${JSON.stringify(input)}`;
 
     logger.warn(warning);
-    logger.error(e);
+    logger.error(error);
     return [];
   }
 }
@@ -345,7 +354,10 @@ function applyPresets(
   }, presetResult);
 }
 
-type InterPresetOptions = Omit<CLIOptions & LoadOptions & BuilderOptions, 'frameworkPresets'>;
+type InterPresetOptions = Omit<
+  CLIOptions & LoadOptions & BuilderOptions & { isCritical?: boolean },
+  'frameworkPresets'
+>;
 
 export async function getPresets(
   presets: PresetConfig[],
@@ -365,6 +377,8 @@ export async function loadAllPresets(
     BuilderOptions & {
       corePresets: PresetConfig[];
       overridePresets: PresetConfig[];
+      /** Whether preset failures should be critical or not */
+      isCritical?: boolean;
     }
 ) {
   const { corePresets = [], overridePresets = [], ...restOptions } = options;
diff --git a/code/lib/core-events/src/errors/server-errors.ts b/code/lib/core-events/src/errors/server-errors.ts
index f773a2fbf69e..e23b933fb049 100644
--- a/code/lib/core-events/src/errors/server-errors.ts
+++ b/code/lib/core-events/src/errors/server-errors.ts
@@ -279,3 +279,30 @@ export class AngularLegacyBuildOptionsError extends StorybookError {
     `;
   }
 }
+
+export class CriticalPresetLoadError extends StorybookError {
+  readonly category = Category.CORE_SERVER;
+
+  readonly code = 2;
+
+  constructor(
+    public data: {
+      error: Error;
+      presetName: string;
+    }
+  ) {
+    super();
+  }
+
+  template() {
+    return dedent`
+      Storybook failed to load the following preset: ${this.data.presetName}.
+
+      Please check whether your setup is correct, the Storybook dependencies (and their peer dependencies) are installed correctly and there are no package version clashes.
+
+      If you believe this is a bug, please open an issue on Github.
+
+      ${this.data.error.stack || this.data.error.message}
+    `;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/code/lib/core-server/src/build-dev.ts b/code/lib/core-server/src/build-dev.ts
index 7785afdee7b7..ac769bc08962 100644
--- a/code/lib/core-server/src/build-dev.ts
+++ b/code/lib/core-server/src/build-dev.ts
@@ -84,6 +84,7 @@ export async function buildDevStandalone(
       require.resolve('@storybook/core-server/dist/presets/common-override-preset'),
     ],
     ...options,
+    isCritical: true,
   });
 
   const { renderer, builder, disableTelemetry } = await presets.apply<CoreConfig>('core', {});
diff --git a/code/lib/core-server/src/build-static.ts b/code/lib/core-server/src/build-static.ts
index b8ca4a95fa6c..8782337a6db0 100644
--- a/code/lib/core-server/src/build-static.ts
+++ b/code/lib/core-server/src/build-static.ts
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ export async function buildStaticStandalone(options: BuildStaticStandaloneOption
     overridePresets: [
       require.resolve('@storybook/core-server/dist/presets/common-override-preset'),
     ],
+    isCritical: true,
     ...options,
   });