diff --git a/changelog/11705.txt b/changelog/11705.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..42d683d81f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/11705.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+```release-note:improvement
+ui: Add specific error message if unseal fails due to license
+```
diff --git a/ui/app/controllers/vault/cluster/unseal.js b/ui/app/controllers/vault/cluster/unseal.js
index 7f975cd901..8d1e76adbd 100644
--- a/ui/app/controllers/vault/cluster/unseal.js
+++ b/ui/app/controllers/vault/cluster/unseal.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import Controller from '@ember/controller';
 
 export default Controller.extend({
   wizard: service(),
+  showLicenseError: false,
 
   actions: {
     transitionToCluster(resp) {
@@ -19,5 +20,9 @@ export default Controller.extend({
     isUnsealed(data) {
       return data.sealed === false;
     },
+
+    handleLicenseError() {
+      this.set('showLicenseError', true);
+    },
   },
 });
diff --git a/ui/app/styles/components/empty-state.scss b/ui/app/styles/components/empty-state.scss
index 9f685794bd..7a90a73ea2 100644
--- a/ui/app/styles/components/empty-state.scss
+++ b/ui/app/styles/components/empty-state.scss
@@ -8,6 +8,16 @@
   box-shadow: 0 -2px 0 -1px $ui-gray-300;
 }
 
+.empty-state-transparent {
+  align-items: center;
+  color: $grey;
+  background: transparent;
+  display: flex;
+  justify-content: center;
+  padding: $spacing-xxl 0;
+  box-shadow: none;
+}
+
 .empty-state-content {
   max-width: 320px;
 }
diff --git a/ui/app/styles/components/splash-page.scss b/ui/app/styles/components/splash-page.scss
index 2b6c887bad..637bfd5fa4 100644
--- a/ui/app/styles/components/splash-page.scss
+++ b/ui/app/styles/components/splash-page.scss
@@ -21,5 +21,5 @@
 }
 
 .splash-page-header {
-  padding: $size-6 $size-5;
+  padding: $size-6 0;
 }
diff --git a/ui/app/templates/vault/cluster/unseal.hbs b/ui/app/templates/vault/cluster/unseal.hbs
index 86be949bf6..d135f55443 100644
--- a/ui/app/templates/vault/cluster/unseal.hbs
+++ b/ui/app/templates/vault/cluster/unseal.hbs
@@ -1,26 +1,60 @@
-<SplashPage as |Page|>
-  <Page.header>
-    <h1 class="title is-3">
-      Unseal Vault
-    </h1>
-  </Page.header>
-  <Page.content>
-    <AlertBanner
-      @type="warning"
-      @title="{{capitalize model.name}} is {{if model.unsealed 'unsealed' 'sealed'}}"
-      @message="You can unseal the vault by entering a portion of the master key. Once all portions are entered, the vault will be unsealed."
-      @class="unseal-warning"
-      data-test-cluster-status
-    />
-    <ShamirFlow
-      @action="unseal"
-      @onUpdate={{action 'setUnsealState'}}
-      @onShamirSuccess={{action 'transitionToCluster'}}
-      @buttonText="Unseal"
-      @thresholdPath="t"
-      @isComplete={{action 'isUnsealed'}}
-      @threshold={{model.sealThreshold}}
-      @progress={{model.sealProgress}}
-    />
-  </Page.content>
-</SplashPage>
+{{#if showLicenseError}}
+  <NavHeader as |Nav|>
+    <Nav.home>
+      <HomeLink @class="navbar-item splash-page-logo has-text-white">
+        <LogoEdition />
+      </HomeLink>
+    </Nav.home>
+    <Nav.items>
+    <div class="navbar-item status-indicator-button" data-status="{{if activeCluster.unsealed "good" "bad"}}">
+      <StatusMenu @label="Status" @onLinkClick={{action Nav.closeDrawer}} />
+    </div>
+    </Nav.items>
+  </NavHeader>
+  <div class="section is-flex-v-centered-tablet is-flex-1 is-fullwidth">
+    <div class="columns is-centered is-gapless is-fullwidth">
+      <EmptyState
+        class="empty-state-transparent"
+        @title="License required"
+        @subTitle="Vault license has terminated"
+        @icon="disabled"
+        @bottomBorder={{true}}
+        @message="Your Vault license has terminated and Vault is sealed. To unseal, add a current license to your configuration and restart Vault."
+      >
+      <p class="align-right"><a href="https://learn.hashicorp.com/tutorials/nomad/hashicorp-enterprise-license" rel="noreferrer noopener">License documentation</a></p>
+      </EmptyState>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+{{else}}
+  <SplashPage as |Page|>
+    <Page.header>
+      <h1 class="title is-3">
+        Unseal Vault
+      </h1>
+    </Page.header>
+    <Page.content>
+      <div class="box is-borderless is-shadowless is-marginless">
+      <p class="title is-5">{{capitalize model.name}} is {{if model.unsealed 'unsealed' 'sealed'}}</p>
+      <p>
+        Unseal Vault by entering portions of the unseal key. This can be done via multiple mechanisms on multiple computers. Once all portions are entered, the root key will be decrypted and Vault will unseal.
+      </p>
+      </div>
+      <ShamirFlow
+        @action="unseal"
+        @onUpdate={{action 'setUnsealState'}}
+        @onLicenseError={{action 'handleLicenseError'}}
+        @onShamirSuccess={{action 'transitionToCluster'}}
+        @buttonText="Unseal"
+        @thresholdPath="t"
+        @isComplete={{action 'isUnsealed'}}
+        @threshold={{model.sealThreshold}}
+        @progress={{model.sealProgress}}
+      />
+    </Page.content>
+    <Page.footer>
+      <div class="box is-borderless is-shadowless">
+      <p><a target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.vaultproject.io/docs/concepts/seal">Seal/unseal documentation</a></p>
+      </div>
+    </Page.footer>
+  </SplashPage>
+{{/if}}
diff --git a/ui/lib/core/addon/components/empty-state.js b/ui/lib/core/addon/components/empty-state.js
index 4a455e0d31..62b82ec1af 100644
--- a/ui/lib/core/addon/components/empty-state.js
+++ b/ui/lib/core/addon/components/empty-state.js
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import layout from '../templates/components/empty-state';
  * @param title=null{String} - A short label for the empty state
  * @param subTitle=null{String} - A sub title that goes underneath the main title
  * @param message=null{String} - A description of why a user might be seeing the empty state and possibly instructions for actions they may take.
- * @param [icon='']{String} - An optional param to display icon to the right of the title
+ * @param [icon='']{String} - An optional param to display icon to the left of the title
  * @param bottomBorder=false{Boolean} - A bottom border underneath the message.  Generally used when you have links under the message
  */
 
diff --git a/ui/lib/core/addon/components/shamir-flow.js b/ui/lib/core/addon/components/shamir-flow.js
index 7f109f06ed..b0426feb84 100644
--- a/ui/lib/core/addon/components/shamir-flow.js
+++ b/ui/lib/core/addon/components/shamir-flow.js
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ export default Component.extend(DEFAULTS, {
   },
 
   onUpdate() {},
+  onLicenseError() {},
   onShamirSuccess() {},
   // can be overridden w/an attr
   isComplete(data) {
@@ -88,6 +89,10 @@ export default Component.extend(DEFAULTS, {
     if (e.httpStatus === 400) {
       this.set('errors', e.errors);
     } else {
+      // if licensing error, trigger parent method to handle
+      if (e.httpStatus === 500 && e.errors?.join(' ').includes('licensing is in an invalid state')) {
+        this.onLicenseError();
+      }
       throw e;
     }
   },
diff --git a/ui/lib/core/addon/templates/components/shamir-flow.hbs b/ui/lib/core/addon/templates/components/shamir-flow.hbs
index ace02e1d89..6b5bfa6b1d 100644
--- a/ui/lib/core/addon/templates/components/shamir-flow.hbs
+++ b/ui/lib/core/addon/templates/components/shamir-flow.hbs
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@
       </div>
       <div class="field">
         <label for="key" class="is-label">
-          Master Key Portion
+          Unseal Key Portion
         </label>
         <div class="control">
           {{input class="input"type="password" name="key" value=key data-test-shamir-input=true}}