diff --git a/addon/modifiers/create-ref.js b/addon/modifiers/create-ref.js
index 92f33cd..a6c7d40 100644
--- a/addon/modifiers/create-ref.js
+++ b/addon/modifiers/create-ref.js
@@ -127,6 +127,10 @@ export default class RefModifier extends Modifier {
     this._ctx = ctx;
     this._element = element;
 
+    assert(
+      `Preprocessor was not executed on create-ref modifier. Check that ember-ref-bucket is included in the dependencies (not devDependencies) in package.json.`,
+      typeof named.debugName === 'string'
+    );
     assert(
       `You must provide string as first positional argument for {{${named.debugName}}}`,
       typeof name === 'string' && name.length > 0