diff --git a/aiida/cmdline/commands/cmd_daemon.py b/aiida/cmdline/commands/cmd_daemon.py
index 857c697e2a..1a68efe7e4 100644
--- a/aiida/cmdline/commands/cmd_daemon.py
+++ b/aiida/cmdline/commands/cmd_daemon.py
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ def start(foreground, number):
 
 @verdi_daemon.command()
 @click.option('--all', 'all_profiles', is_flag=True, help='Show status of all daemons.')
+@decorators.requires_loaded_profile()
 def status(all_profiles):
     """Print the status of the current daemon or all daemons.
 
diff --git a/aiida/cmdline/utils/decorators.py b/aiida/cmdline/utils/decorators.py
index 3146bf7b2e..5e0cc159e4 100644
--- a/aiida/cmdline/utils/decorators.py
+++ b/aiida/cmdline/utils/decorators.py
@@ -236,3 +236,29 @@ def wrapper(wrapped, _, args, kwargs):
         return wrapped(*args, **kwargs)
 
     return wrapper
+
+
+def requires_loaded_profile():
+    """Function decorator for CLI command that requires a profile to be loaded.
+
+    Example::
+
+        @requires_loaded_profile()
+        def create_node():
+            pass
+
+    If no profile has been loaded, the command will exit with a critical error. Most ``verdi`` commands will
+    automatically load the default profile. So if this error is hit, it is most likely that either no profile have been
+    defined at all or the default is unspecified.
+    """
+
+    @decorator
+    def wrapper(wrapped, _, args, kwargs):
+        from aiida.manage.configuration import get_profile
+
+        if get_profile() is None:
+            echo.echo_critical('No profile loaded: make sure at least one profile is configured and a default is set.')
+
+        return wrapped(*args, **kwargs)
+
+    return wrapper
diff --git a/tests/cmdline/commands/test_daemon.py b/tests/cmdline/commands/test_daemon.py
index ea007faf99..9ef7968e2f 100644
--- a/tests/cmdline/commands/test_daemon.py
+++ b/tests/cmdline/commands/test_daemon.py
@@ -90,3 +90,10 @@ def test_daemon_status(run_cli_command):
 
     assert f'Profile: {get_profile().name}' in result.output
     assert last_line == 'Use verdi daemon [incr | decr] [num] to increase / decrease the amount of workers'
+
+
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures('empty_config')
+def test_daemon_status_no_profile(run_cli_command):
+    """Test ``verdi daemon status`` when no profiles are defined."""
+    result = run_cli_command(cmd_daemon.status, raises=True)
+    assert 'No profile loaded: make sure at least one profile is configured and a default is set.' in result.output