diff --git a/.changeset/gorgeous-islands-shake.md b/.changeset/gorgeous-islands-shake.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..79b3c6939b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/gorgeous-islands-shake.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+---
+"@pnpm/npm-resolver": patch
+"pnpm": patch
+---
+
+Throw an accurate error message when trying to install a package that has no versions, or all of its versions are unpublished [#5849](https://github.com/pnpm/pnpm/issues/5849).
diff --git a/resolving/npm-resolver/src/pickPackage.ts b/resolving/npm-resolver/src/pickPackage.ts
index 2990cc34cd..8ec1adfb12 100644
--- a/resolving/npm-resolver/src/pickPackage.ts
+++ b/resolving/npm-resolver/src/pickPackage.ts
@@ -20,10 +20,17 @@ export interface PackageMeta {
   name: string
   'dist-tags': Record<string, string>
   versions: Record<string, PackageInRegistry>
-  time?: Record<string, string>
+  time?: PackageMetaTime
   cachedAt?: number
 }
 
+export type PackageMetaTime = Record<string, string> & {
+  unpublished?: {
+    time: string
+    versions: string[]
+  }
+}
+
 export interface PackageMetaCache {
   get: (key: string) => PackageMeta | undefined
   set: (key: string, meta: PackageMeta) => void
diff --git a/resolving/npm-resolver/src/pickPackageFromMeta.ts b/resolving/npm-resolver/src/pickPackageFromMeta.ts
index 87301d79fd..b7f0fdd27c 100644
--- a/resolving/npm-resolver/src/pickPackageFromMeta.ts
+++ b/resolving/npm-resolver/src/pickPackageFromMeta.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,14 @@ export function pickPackageFromMeta (
   meta: PackageMeta,
   publishedBy?: Date
 ): PackageInRegistry | null {
+  if ((!meta.versions || Object.keys(meta.versions).length === 0) && !publishedBy) {
+    // Unfortunately, the npm registry doesn't return the time field in the abbreviated metadata.
+    // So we won't always know if the package was unpublished.
+    if (meta.time?.unpublished?.versions?.length) {
+      throw new PnpmError('UNPUBLISHED_PKG', `No versions available for ${spec.name} because it was unpublished`)
+    }
+    throw new PnpmError('NO_VERSIONS', `No versions available for ${spec.name}. The package may be unpublished.`)
+  }
   try {
     let version!: string | null
     switch (spec.type) {
diff --git a/resolving/npm-resolver/test/fixtures/malformed.json b/resolving/npm-resolver/test/fixtures/unpublished.json
similarity index 100%
rename from resolving/npm-resolver/test/fixtures/malformed.json
rename to resolving/npm-resolver/test/fixtures/unpublished.json
diff --git a/resolving/npm-resolver/test/index.ts b/resolving/npm-resolver/test/index.ts
index b6a71cf801..4c8eec7b8d 100644
--- a/resolving/npm-resolver/test/index.ts
+++ b/resolving/npm-resolver/test/index.ts
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ import { fixtures } from '@pnpm/test-fixtures'
 import loadJsonFile from 'load-json-file'
 import nock from 'nock'
 import exists from 'path-exists'
+import omit from 'ramda/src/omit'
 import tempy from 'tempy'
 
 const f = fixtures(__dirname)
@@ -45,6 +46,15 @@ async function retryLoadJsonFile<T> (filePath: string) {
   }
 }
 
+afterEach(() => {
+  nock.cleanAll()
+  nock.disableNetConnect()
+})
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  nock.enableNetConnect()
+})
+
 test('resolveFromNpm()', async () => {
   nock(registry)
     .get('/is-positive')
@@ -1653,17 +1663,46 @@ test('request to metadata is retried if the received JSON is broken', async () =
   expect(resolveResult?.id).toBe('registry.npmjs.org/is-positive/1.0.0')
 })
 
-test('request to a package with malformed metadata', async () => {
+test('request to a package with unpublished versions', async () => {
   nock(registry)
     .get('/code-snippet')
-    .reply(200, loadJsonFile.sync(f.find('malformed.json')))
+    .reply(200, loadJsonFile.sync(f.find('unpublished.json')))
 
   const cacheDir = tempy.directory()
   const resolve = createResolveFromNpm({ cacheDir })
 
   await expect(resolve({ alias: 'code-snippet' }, { registry })).rejects
     .toThrow(
-      new PnpmError('MALFORMED_METADATA', 'Received malformed metadata for "code-snippet"')
+      new PnpmError('NO_VERSIONS', 'No versions available for code-snippet because it was unpublished')
+    )
+})
+
+test('request to a package with no versions', async () => {
+  nock(registry)
+    .get('/code-snippet')
+    .reply(200, { name: 'code-snippet' })
+
+  const cacheDir = tempy.directory()
+  const resolve = createResolveFromNpm({ cacheDir })
+
+  await expect(resolve({ alias: 'code-snippet' }, { registry })).rejects
+    .toThrow(
+      new PnpmError('NO_VERSIONS', 'No versions available for code-snippet. The package may be unpublished.')
+    )
+})
+
+test('request to a package with no dist-tags', async () => {
+  const isPositiveMeta = omit(['dist-tags'], loadJsonFile.sync(f.find('is-positive.json')))
+  nock(registry)
+    .get('/is-positive')
+    .reply(200, isPositiveMeta)
+
+  const cacheDir = tempy.directory()
+  const resolve = createResolveFromNpm({ cacheDir })
+
+  await expect(resolve({ alias: 'is-positive' }, { registry })).rejects
+    .toThrow(
+      new PnpmError('MALFORMED_METADATA', 'Received malformed metadata for "is-positive"')
     )
 })
 
diff --git a/resolving/npm-resolver/test/publishedBy.test.ts b/resolving/npm-resolver/test/publishedBy.test.ts
index 4ec62db969..018f668db9 100644
--- a/resolving/npm-resolver/test/publishedBy.test.ts
+++ b/resolving/npm-resolver/test/publishedBy.test.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,15 @@ const fetch = createFetchFromRegistry({})
 const getAuthHeader = () => undefined
 const createResolveFromNpm = createNpmResolver.bind(null, fetch, getAuthHeader)
 
+afterEach(() => {
+  nock.cleanAll()
+  nock.disableNetConnect()
+})
+
+beforeEach(() => {
+  nock.enableNetConnect()
+})
+
 test('fall back to a newer version if there is no version published by the given date', async () => {
   nock(registry)
     .get('/bad-dates')