diff --git a/crates/polars-io/src/parquet/read/reader.rs b/crates/polars-io/src/parquet/read/reader.rs
index 3cef93a89d73..eb3609c127ac 100644
--- a/crates/polars-io/src/parquet/read/reader.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-io/src/parquet/read/reader.rs
@@ -95,22 +95,38 @@ impl<R: MmapBytesReader> ParquetReader<R> {
 
         let schema = self.schema()?;
 
-        if let Some(projected_arrow_schema) = projected_arrow_schema {
-            self.projection = projected_arrow_schema_to_projection_indices(
-                schema.as_ref(),
-                projected_arrow_schema,
-            )?;
-        } else {
-            if schema.len() > first_schema.len() {
-                polars_bail!(
-                   SchemaMismatch:
-                   "parquet file contained extra columns and no selection was given"
-                )
+        (|| {
+            if let Some(projected_arrow_schema) = projected_arrow_schema {
+                self.projection = projected_arrow_schema_to_projection_indices(
+                    schema.as_ref(),
+                    projected_arrow_schema,
+                )?;
+            } else {
+                if schema.len() > first_schema.len() {
+                    polars_bail!(
+                       SchemaMismatch:
+                       "parquet file contained extra columns and no selection was given"
+                    )
+                }
+
+                self.projection =
+                    projected_arrow_schema_to_projection_indices(schema.as_ref(), first_schema)?;
+            };
+            Ok(())
+        })()
+        .map_err(|e| {
+            if !allow_missing_columns && matches!(e, PolarsError::ColumnNotFound(_)) {
+                e.wrap_msg(|s| {
+                    format!(
+                        "error with column selection, \
+                        consider enabling `allow_missing_columns`: {}",
+                        s
+                    )
+                })
+            } else {
+                e
             }
-
-            self.projection =
-                projected_arrow_schema_to_projection_indices(schema.as_ref(), first_schema)?;
-        }
+        })?;
 
         Ok(self)
     }
@@ -316,22 +332,38 @@ impl ParquetAsyncReader {
 
         let schema = self.schema().await?;
 
-        if let Some(projected_arrow_schema) = projected_arrow_schema {
-            self.projection = projected_arrow_schema_to_projection_indices(
-                schema.as_ref(),
-                projected_arrow_schema,
-            )?;
-        } else {
-            if schema.len() > first_schema.len() {
-                polars_bail!(
-                   SchemaMismatch:
-                   "parquet file contained extra columns and no selection was given"
-                )
+        (|| {
+            if let Some(projected_arrow_schema) = projected_arrow_schema {
+                self.projection = projected_arrow_schema_to_projection_indices(
+                    schema.as_ref(),
+                    projected_arrow_schema,
+                )?;
+            } else {
+                if schema.len() > first_schema.len() {
+                    polars_bail!(
+                       SchemaMismatch:
+                       "parquet file contained extra columns and no selection was given"
+                    )
+                }
+
+                self.projection =
+                    projected_arrow_schema_to_projection_indices(schema.as_ref(), first_schema)?;
+            };
+            Ok(())
+        })()
+        .map_err(|e| {
+            if !allow_missing_columns && matches!(e, PolarsError::ColumnNotFound(_)) {
+                e.wrap_msg(|s| {
+                    format!(
+                        "error with column selection, \
+                        consider enabling `allow_missing_columns`: {}",
+                        s
+                    )
+                })
+            } else {
+                e
             }
-
-            self.projection =
-                projected_arrow_schema_to_projection_indices(schema.as_ref(), first_schema)?;
-        }
+        })?;
 
         Ok(self)
     }
diff --git a/crates/polars-io/src/parquet/read/utils.rs b/crates/polars-io/src/parquet/read/utils.rs
index 62df261237eb..7ce183088aee 100644
--- a/crates/polars-io/src/parquet/read/utils.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-io/src/parquet/read/utils.rs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ pub(super) fn projected_arrow_schema_to_projection_indices(
     for (i, field) in projected_arrow_schema.iter_values().enumerate() {
         let dtype = {
             let Some((idx, _, field)) = schema.get_full(&field.name) else {
-                polars_bail!(SchemaMismatch: "did not find column in file: {}", field.name)
+                polars_bail!(ColumnNotFound: "did not find column in file: {}", field.name)
             };
 
             projection_indices.push(idx);
diff --git a/crates/polars-stream/src/nodes/parquet_source/metadata_utils.rs b/crates/polars-stream/src/nodes/parquet_source/metadata_utils.rs
index 3e4d03a3a270..61db45d54a0a 100644
--- a/crates/polars-stream/src/nodes/parquet_source/metadata_utils.rs
+++ b/crates/polars-stream/src/nodes/parquet_source/metadata_utils.rs
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ pub(super) fn ensure_schema_has_projected_fields(
         let expected_dtype = DataType::from_arrow(&field.dtype, true);
         let dtype = {
             let Some(field) = schema.get(&field.name) else {
-                polars_bail!(SchemaMismatch: "did not find column: {}", field.name)
+                polars_bail!(ColumnNotFound: "error with column selection, consider enabling `allow_missing_columns`: did not find column in file: {}", field.name)
             };
             DataType::from_arrow(&field.dtype, true)
         };
diff --git a/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_lazy_parquet.py b/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_lazy_parquet.py
index 111289408dea..9604793c7baf 100644
--- a/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_lazy_parquet.py
+++ b/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_lazy_parquet.py
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ def test_parquet_schema_mismatch_panic_17067(tmp_path: Path, streaming: bool) ->
     pl.DataFrame({"a": [1, 2, 3], "b": [4, 5, 6]}).write_parquet(tmp_path / "1.parquet")
     pl.DataFrame({"c": [1, 2, 3], "d": [4, 5, 6]}).write_parquet(tmp_path / "2.parquet")
 
-    with pytest.raises(pl.exceptions.SchemaError):
+    with pytest.raises(pl.exceptions.ColumnNotFoundError):
         pl.scan_parquet(tmp_path).collect(streaming=streaming)
 
 
@@ -642,5 +642,8 @@ def test_parquet_unaligned_schema_read_missing_cols_from_first(
 
     lf = pl.scan_parquet(paths)
 
-    with pytest.raises(pl.exceptions.SchemaError, match="did not find column"):
+    with pytest.raises(
+        pl.exceptions.ColumnNotFoundError,
+        match="did not find column in file: a",
+    ):
         lf.collect(streaming=streaming)
diff --git a/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_parquet.py b/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_parquet.py
index 3f7e8b977505..8431c659cce0 100644
--- a/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_parquet.py
+++ b/py-polars/tests/unit/io/test_parquet.py
@@ -1932,10 +1932,16 @@ def test_allow_missing_columns(
 
     expected = pl.DataFrame({"a": [1, 2], "b": [1, None]}).select(projection)
 
-    with pytest.raises(pl.exceptions.SchemaError, match="did not find column"):
+    with pytest.raises(
+        pl.exceptions.ColumnNotFoundError,
+        match="error with column selection, consider enabling `allow_missing_columns`: did not find column in file: b",
+    ):
         pl.read_parquet(paths, parallel=parallel)  # type: ignore[arg-type]
 
-    with pytest.raises(pl.exceptions.SchemaError, match="did not find column"):
+    with pytest.raises(
+        pl.exceptions.ColumnNotFoundError,
+        match="error with column selection, consider enabling `allow_missing_columns`: did not find column in file: b",
+    ):
         pl.scan_parquet(paths, parallel=parallel).select(projection).collect(  # type: ignore[arg-type]
             streaming=streaming
         )