diff --git a/src/dev/i18n_tools/__fixtures__/extraction_signatures/template_literal_var.ts b/src/dev/i18n_tools/__fixtures__/extraction_signatures/template_literal_var.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1c482370ad725
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/dev/i18n_tools/__fixtures__/extraction_signatures/template_literal_var.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
+ * 2.0 and the Server Side Public License, v 1; you may not use this file except
+ * in compliance with, at your election, the Elastic License 2.0 or the Server
+ * Side Public License, v 1.
+ */
+
+import { i18n } from '@kbn/i18n';
+
+const e = new Error('Should not work');
+
+i18n.translate('contains_variable', {
+  defaultMessage: `value passed into literal directly (e: ${e.message})`,
+});
+
+i18n.translate('no_variable', {
+  defaultMessage: `template literal without any variable expressions (e: {errorMessage})`,
+  values: { errorMessage: e.message },
+});
diff --git a/src/dev/i18n_tools/extractors/call_expt.ts b/src/dev/i18n_tools/extractors/call_expt.ts
index 3677b71fb2bb5..df3d05dc6b73e 100644
--- a/src/dev/i18n_tools/extractors/call_expt.ts
+++ b/src/dev/i18n_tools/extractors/call_expt.ts
@@ -286,6 +286,15 @@ export function extractMessageDescriptor(
               break;
           }
         }
+      } else if (typescript.isTemplateExpression(initializer)) {
+        initializer.forEachChild((child) => {
+          if (typescript.isTemplateSpan(child)) {
+            const messageText = initializer.getFullText();
+            throw new Error(
+              `Template literals with variable substitution is not supported. please pass variables via the 'values' object instead. Message ${messageText}`
+            );
+          }
+        });
       }
       // {id: `id`}
       else if (typescript.isNoSubstitutionTemplateLiteral(initializer)) {
diff --git a/src/dev/i18n_tools/extractors/formatjs.test.ts b/src/dev/i18n_tools/extractors/formatjs.test.ts
index 85c1642519e80..3df36c0c7447b 100644
--- a/src/dev/i18n_tools/extractors/formatjs.test.ts
+++ b/src/dev/i18n_tools/extractors/formatjs.test.ts
@@ -267,6 +267,14 @@ describe('formatJS Runner', () => {
         }
       `);
     });
+
+    it('throws when template literal has a variable', async () => {
+      await expect(async () =>
+        formatJsFixtureRunner('template_literal_var.ts')
+      ).rejects.toMatchInlineSnapshot(
+        `[Error: Error parsing file template_literal_var.ts: Error: Template literals with variable substitution is not supported. please pass variables via the 'values' object instead. Message  \`value passed into literal directly (e: \${e.message})\`]`
+      );
+    });
   });
 
   describe('extraction inside react components', () => {