diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ce8fc550a..23adc8788 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/), and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [unreleased]
+### Changelog
+- Fixed hard error in case `rustdoc` is missing
 
 ## [0.7.1] - 2023-10-14
 ### Changed
diff --git a/src/environment.rs b/src/environment.rs
index c257e08a0..73d91eeed 100644
--- a/src/environment.rs
+++ b/src/environment.rs
@@ -240,7 +240,9 @@ impl EnvironmentMap {
         let doc = format!("The output of `{rustc} -V`");
         write_str_variable!(w, "RUSTC_VERSION", rustc_version, doc);
 
-        let doc = format!("The output of `{rustdoc} -V`");
+        let doc = format!(
+            "The output of `{rustdoc} -V`; empty string if `{rustdoc} -V` failed to execute"
+        );
         write_str_variable!(w, "RUSTDOC_VERSION", rustdoc_version, doc);
         Ok(())
     }