diff --git a/internal/docker/docker.go b/internal/docker/docker.go
index fedfe3a151..f11a30a1c8 100644
--- a/internal/docker/docker.go
+++ b/internal/docker/docker.go
@@ -190,3 +190,20 @@ func Copy(containerName, containerPath, localPath string) error {
 	}
 	return nil
 }
+
+// CheckDaemonRunning checks if the Docker daemon is running.
+// Returns nil if the daemon is running, or an error if it's not.
+func CheckDaemonRunning() error {
+	cmd := exec.Command("docker", "info")
+	errOutput := new(bytes.Buffer)
+	cmd.Stderr = errOutput
+
+	logger.Debugf("running command to check Docker daemon: %s", cmd)
+	if err := cmd.Run(); err != nil {
+		daemonError := fmt.Errorf("docker daemon is not running (stderr=%q): %w", errOutput.String(), err)
+		logger.Error(": Docker daemon is not running or not accessible")
+		logger.Error(": Please make sure Docker is installed and running before executing commands that require Docker")
+		return daemonError
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/stack/compose.go b/internal/stack/compose.go
index 483e638e80..e7aacd9d6e 100644
--- a/internal/stack/compose.go
+++ b/internal/stack/compose.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-package/internal/compose"
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-package/internal/docker"
 	"github.com/elastic/elastic-package/internal/install"
+	"github.com/elastic/elastic-package/internal/logger"
 )
 
 type ServiceStatus struct {
@@ -50,7 +51,18 @@ func (eb *envBuilder) build() []string {
 	return eb.vars
 }
 
+// CheckDockerRunning verifies that the Docker daemon is running before executing Docker operations
+func CheckDockerRunning() error {
+	logger.Debug("Checking if Docker daemon is running...")
+	return docker.CheckDaemonRunning()
+}
+
 func dockerComposeBuild(ctx context.Context, options Options) error {
+	// Check if Docker daemon is running
+	if err := CheckDockerRunning(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	c, err := compose.NewProject(DockerComposeProjectName(options.Profile), options.Profile.Path(ProfileStackPath, ComposeFile))
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not create docker compose project: %w", err)
@@ -77,6 +89,11 @@ func dockerComposeBuild(ctx context.Context, options Options) error {
 }
 
 func dockerComposePull(ctx context.Context, options Options) error {
+	// Check if Docker daemon is running
+	if err := CheckDockerRunning(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	c, err := compose.NewProject(DockerComposeProjectName(options.Profile), options.Profile.Path(ProfileStackPath, ComposeFile))
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not create docker compose project: %w", err)
@@ -103,6 +120,11 @@ func dockerComposePull(ctx context.Context, options Options) error {
 }
 
 func dockerComposeUp(ctx context.Context, options Options) error {
+	// Check if Docker daemon is running
+	if err := CheckDockerRunning(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	c, err := compose.NewProject(DockerComposeProjectName(options.Profile), options.Profile.Path(ProfileStackPath, ComposeFile))
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not create docker compose project: %w", err)
@@ -135,6 +157,11 @@ func dockerComposeUp(ctx context.Context, options Options) error {
 }
 
 func dockerComposeDown(ctx context.Context, options Options) error {
+	// Check if Docker daemon is running
+	if err := CheckDockerRunning(); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
 	c, err := compose.NewProject(DockerComposeProjectName(options.Profile), options.Profile.Path(ProfileStackPath, ComposeFile))
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("could not create docker compose project: %w", err)