diff --git a/packages/flutter_driver/lib/src/driver/timeline_summary.dart b/packages/flutter_driver/lib/src/driver/timeline_summary.dart
index b364277d33..cd7451c299 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_driver/lib/src/driver/timeline_summary.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_driver/lib/src/driver/timeline_summary.dart
@@ -20,6 +20,16 @@ import 'vsync_frame_lag_summarizer.dart';
 
 const JsonEncoder _prettyEncoder = JsonEncoder.withIndent('  ');
 
+const String _kEmptyDurationMessage = r'''
+The TimelineSummary had no events to summarize.
+
+This can happen if the timeline summarization covered too short of a period
+or if the driver script failed to interact with the application to generate
+events. For example, if your driver script contained only a "driver.scroll()"
+command but the app under test was not scrollable then no events would be
+generated by the interaction.
+''';
+
 /// The maximum amount of time considered safe to spend for a frame's build
 /// phase. Anything past that is in the danger of missing the frame as 60FPS.
 const Duration kBuildBudget = Duration(milliseconds: 16);
@@ -40,21 +50,21 @@ class TimelineSummary {
   /// Average amount of time spent per frame in the framework building widgets,
   /// updating layout, painting and compositing.
   ///
-  /// Returns null if no frames were recorded.
+  /// Throws a [StateError] if this summary contains no timeline events.
   double computeAverageFrameBuildTimeMillis() {
     return _averageInMillis(_extractFrameDurations());
   }
 
   /// The [p]-th percentile frame rasterization time in milliseconds.
   ///
-  /// Returns null if no frames were recorded.
+  /// Throws a [StateError] if this summary contains no timeline events.
   double computePercentileFrameBuildTimeMillis(double p) {
     return _percentileInMillis(_extractFrameDurations(), p);
   }
 
   /// The longest frame build time in milliseconds.
   ///
-  /// Returns null if no frames were recorded.
+  /// Throws a [StateError] if this summary contains no timeline events.
   double computeWorstFrameBuildTimeMillis() {
     return _maxInMillis(_extractFrameDurations());
   }
@@ -67,21 +77,21 @@ class TimelineSummary {
 
   /// Average amount of time spent per frame in the engine rasterizer.
   ///
-  /// Returns null if no frames were recorded.
+  /// Throws a [StateError] if this summary contains no timeline events.
   double computeAverageFrameRasterizerTimeMillis() {
     return _averageInMillis(_extractGpuRasterizerDrawDurations());
   }
 
   /// The longest frame rasterization time in milliseconds.
   ///
-  /// Returns null if no frames were recorded.
+  /// Throws a [StateError] if this summary contains no timeline events.
   double computeWorstFrameRasterizerTimeMillis() {
     return _maxInMillis(_extractGpuRasterizerDrawDurations());
   }
 
   /// The [p]-th percentile frame rasterization time in milliseconds.
   ///
-  /// Returns null if no frames were recorded.
+  /// Throws a [StateError] if this summary contains no timeline events.
   double computePercentileFrameRasterizerTimeMillis(double p) {
     return _percentileInMillis(_extractGpuRasterizerDrawDurations(), p);
   }
@@ -409,26 +419,26 @@ class TimelineSummary {
     return result;
   }
 
-  double _averageInMillis(Iterable<Duration> durations) {
+  double _averageInMillis(List<Duration> durations) {
     if (durations.isEmpty) {
-      throw ArgumentError('durations is empty!');
+      throw StateError(_kEmptyDurationMessage);
     }
     final double total = durations.fold<double>(0.0, (double t, Duration duration) => t + duration.inMicroseconds.toDouble() / 1000.0);
     return total / durations.length;
   }
 
-  double _percentileInMillis(Iterable<Duration> durations, double percentile) {
+  double _percentileInMillis(List<Duration> durations, double percentile) {
     if (durations.isEmpty) {
-      throw ArgumentError('durations is empty!');
+      throw StateError(_kEmptyDurationMessage);
     }
     assert(percentile >= 0.0 && percentile <= 100.0);
     final List<double> doubles = durations.map<double>((Duration duration) => duration.inMicroseconds.toDouble() / 1000.0).toList();
     return findPercentile(doubles, percentile);
   }
 
-  double _maxInMillis(Iterable<Duration> durations) {
+  double _maxInMillis(List<Duration> durations) {
     if (durations.isEmpty) {
-      throw ArgumentError('durations is empty!');
+      throw StateError(_kEmptyDurationMessage);
     }
     return durations
         .map<double>((Duration duration) => duration.inMicroseconds.toDouble() / 1000.0)
diff --git a/packages/flutter_driver/test/src/real_tests/timeline_summary_test.dart b/packages/flutter_driver/test/src/real_tests/timeline_summary_test.dart
index 3fec56866f..b94249191e 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_driver/test/src/real_tests/timeline_summary_test.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_driver/test/src/real_tests/timeline_summary_test.dart
@@ -159,7 +159,12 @@ void main() {
       test('throws when there is no data', () {
         expect(
           () => summarize(<Map<String, dynamic>>[]).computeAverageFrameBuildTimeMillis(),
-          throwsA(predicate<ArgumentError>((ArgumentError e) => e.message == 'durations is empty!')),
+          throwsA(
+            isA<StateError>()
+              .having((StateError e) => e.message,
+              'message',
+              contains('The TimelineSummary had no events to summarize.'),
+            )),
         );
       });
 
@@ -223,7 +228,12 @@ void main() {
       test('throws when there is no data', () {
         expect(
           () => summarize(<Map<String, dynamic>>[]).computeWorstFrameBuildTimeMillis(),
-          throwsA(predicate<ArgumentError>((ArgumentError e) => e.message == 'durations is empty!')),
+          throwsA(
+            isA<StateError>()
+              .having((StateError e) => e.message,
+              'message',
+              contains('The TimelineSummary had no events to summarize.'),
+            )),
         );
       });
 
@@ -282,7 +292,12 @@ void main() {
       test('throws when there is no data', () {
         expect(
           () => summarize(<Map<String, dynamic>>[]).computeAverageFrameRasterizerTimeMillis(),
-          throwsA(predicate<ArgumentError>((ArgumentError e) => e.message == 'durations is empty!')),
+          throwsA(
+            isA<StateError>()
+              .having((StateError e) => e.message,
+              'message',
+              contains('The TimelineSummary had no events to summarize.'),
+            )),
         );
       });
 
@@ -321,7 +336,12 @@ void main() {
       test('throws when there is no data', () {
         expect(
           () => summarize(<Map<String, dynamic>>[]).computeWorstFrameRasterizerTimeMillis(),
-          throwsA(predicate<ArgumentError>((ArgumentError e) => e.message == 'durations is empty!')),
+          throwsA(
+            isA<StateError>()
+              .having((StateError e) => e.message,
+              'message',
+              contains('The TimelineSummary had no events to summarize.'),
+            )),
         );
       });
 
@@ -368,7 +388,12 @@ void main() {
       test('throws when there is no data', () {
         expect(
           () => summarize(<Map<String, dynamic>>[]).computePercentileFrameRasterizerTimeMillis(90.0),
-          throwsA(predicate<ArgumentError>((ArgumentError e) => e.message == 'durations is empty!')),
+          throwsA(
+            isA<StateError>()
+              .having((StateError e) => e.message,
+              'message',
+              contains('The TimelineSummary had no events to summarize.'),
+            )),
         );
       });