diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 02be76c18..7992807df 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ All versions prior to 0.9.0 are untracked.
   error, instead of discarding it. `StatementBuilder.build()` already did this;
   `Statement(contents=...)` did not, so a rejected digest algorithm, a missing
   field and a bad `_type` were indistinguishable.
+* `Verifier` now raises `VerificationError` when the trusted root contains no
+  transparency log instances, instead of leaking a raw `IndexError`
+  ([#1880](https://github.com/sigstore/sigstore-python/pull/1880))
 
 ## [4.5.0]
 
diff --git a/sigstore/verify/verifier.py b/sigstore/verify/verifier.py
index 6d4f56d42..7dccb6670 100644
--- a/sigstore/verify/verifier.py
+++ b/sigstore/verify/verifier.py
@@ -92,7 +92,12 @@ def __init__(self, *, trusted_root: TrustedRoot):
 
         # this is an ugly hack needed for verifying "detached" materials
         # In reality we should be choosing the rekor instance based on the logid
-        url = trusted_root._inner.tlogs[0].base_url
+        tlogs = trusted_root._inner.tlogs
+        if not tlogs:
+            raise VerificationError(
+                "trusted root contains no transparency log instances"
+            )
+        url = tlogs[0].base_url
         self._rekor = RekorClient(url)
 
     @classmethod
diff --git a/test/unit/verify/test_verifier.py b/test/unit/verify/test_verifier.py
index 81287e7f6..de4de1a3c 100644
--- a/test/unit/verify/test_verifier.py
+++ b/test/unit/verify/test_verifier.py
@@ -21,15 +21,35 @@
 import pretend
 import pytest
 import rfc3161_client
+from sigstore_models.trustroot import v1 as trustroot_v1
 
 from sigstore._internal.trust import CertificateAuthority
 from sigstore.dsse import StatementBuilder, Subject
 from sigstore.errors import CertValidationError, VerificationError
-from sigstore.models import Bundle
+from sigstore.models import Bundle, TrustedRoot
 from sigstore.verify import policy
 from sigstore.verify.verifier import Verifier
 
 
+def test_verifier_rejects_trusted_root_without_tlogs(asset):
+    """
+    A trusted root carrying no transparency log instances should surface a
+    VerificationError, not an IndexError from indexing an empty list.
+    """
+    raw = json.loads(asset("trusted_root/trustedroot.v1.json").read_bytes())
+    raw["tlogs"] = []
+    trusted_root = TrustedRoot(
+        trustroot_v1.TrustedRoot.from_json(json.dumps(raw).encode())
+    )
+
+    # the certificate authorities are left intact, so this reaches the tlog
+    # lookup rather than failing earlier in get_fulcio_certs()
+    assert trusted_root.get_fulcio_certs()
+
+    with pytest.raises(VerificationError, match="no transparency log"):
+        Verifier(trusted_root=trusted_root)
+
+
 @pytest.mark.production
 def test_verifier_production():
     verifier = Verifier.production()