diff --git a/vscode-extensions/vscode-manifest-yaml/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/manifest/yaml/AbstractCFHintsProvider.java b/vscode-extensions/vscode-manifest-yaml/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/manifest/yaml/AbstractCFHintsProvider.java
index db77ddaa8..e2072f479 100644
--- a/vscode-extensions/vscode-manifest-yaml/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/manifest/yaml/AbstractCFHintsProvider.java
+++ b/vscode-extensions/vscode-manifest-yaml/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/manifest/yaml/AbstractCFHintsProvider.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import javax.inject.Provider;
 
 import org.springframework.ide.vscode.commons.cloudfoundry.client.cftarget.CFTarget;
 import org.springframework.ide.vscode.commons.cloudfoundry.client.cftarget.CFTargetsFactory;
+import org.springframework.ide.vscode.commons.yaml.schema.BasicYValueHint;
 import org.springframework.ide.vscode.commons.yaml.schema.YValueHint;
 
 import com.google.common.collect.Lists;
@@ -26,6 +27,12 @@ public abstract class AbstractCFHintsProvider implements Provider<Collection<YVa
 
 	private final CFTargetsFactory targetsFactory;
 
+	/*
+	 * TODO: This is probably a very wrong way of handling "No connections available"
+	 */
+	public static final YValueHint NO_CF_TARGET_HINT = new BasicYValueHint("",
+			"No valid Cloud Foundry target found. Please ensure that you are connected to Cloud Foundry and try again.");
+
 	public AbstractCFHintsProvider(CFTargetsFactory targetsFactory) {
 		this.targetsFactory = targetsFactory;
 	}
diff --git a/vscode-extensions/vscode-manifest-yaml/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/manifest/yaml/ManifestYamlCFBuildpacksProvider.java b/vscode-extensions/vscode-manifest-yaml/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/manifest/yaml/ManifestYamlCFBuildpacksProvider.java
index 0533734b6..ccfda3a23 100644
--- a/vscode-extensions/vscode-manifest-yaml/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/manifest/yaml/ManifestYamlCFBuildpacksProvider.java
+++ b/vscode-extensions/vscode-manifest-yaml/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/manifest/yaml/ManifestYamlCFBuildpacksProvider.java
@@ -56,6 +56,12 @@ public class ManifestYamlCFBuildpacksProvider extends AbstractCFHintsProvider {
 		} catch (Exception e) {
 			logger.log(Level.SEVERE, e.getMessage(), e);
 		}
+		
+		// TODO: probably a very bad thing to do, but for now a workaround to notify the user via the CA UI that there are no
+		// CF targets available.
+		if (hints.isEmpty()) {
+			hints.add(NO_CF_TARGET_HINT);
+		}
 		return hints;
 	}
 
diff --git a/vscode-extensions/vscode-manifest-yaml/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/manifest/yaml/ManifestYamlCFServicesProvider.java b/vscode-extensions/vscode-manifest-yaml/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/manifest/yaml/ManifestYamlCFServicesProvider.java
index bcc45eb90..119bb8b58 100644
--- a/vscode-extensions/vscode-manifest-yaml/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/manifest/yaml/ManifestYamlCFServicesProvider.java
+++ b/vscode-extensions/vscode-manifest-yaml/src/main/java/org/springframework/ide/vscode/manifest/yaml/ManifestYamlCFServicesProvider.java
@@ -56,6 +56,12 @@ public class ManifestYamlCFServicesProvider extends AbstractCFHintsProvider  {
 		} catch (Exception e) {
 			logger.log(Level.SEVERE, e.getMessage(), e);
 		}
+		
+		// TODO: probably a very bad thing to do, but for now a workaround to notify the user via the CA UI that there are no
+		// CF targets available.
+		if (hints.isEmpty()) {
+			hints.add(NO_CF_TARGET_HINT);
+		}
 
 		return hints;
 	}