diff --git a/esphome/components/font/__init__.py b/esphome/components/font/__init__.py
index 29150afe3f..52f877d986 100644
--- a/esphome/components/font/__init__.py
+++ b/esphome/components/font/__init__.py
@@ -67,13 +67,18 @@ def validate_pillow_installed(value):
     except ImportError as err:
         raise cv.Invalid(
             "Please install the pillow python package to use this feature. "
-            "(pip install pillow)"
+            '(pip install pillow">4.0.0,<10.0.0")'
         ) from err
 
     if version.parse(PIL.__version__) < version.parse("4.0.0"):
         raise cv.Invalid(
             "Please update your pillow installation to at least 4.0.x. "
-            "(pip install -U pillow)"
+            '(pip install pillow">4.0.0,<10.0.0")'
+        )
+    if version.parse(PIL.__version__) >= version.parse("10.0.0"):
+        raise cv.Invalid(
+            "Please downgrade your pillow installation to below 10.0.0. "
+            '(pip install pillow">4.0.0,<10.0.0")'
         )
 
     return value