diff --git a/conda_lock/conda_lock.py b/conda_lock/conda_lock.py
index 31b6157ba..179bc6ac3 100644
--- a/conda_lock/conda_lock.py
+++ b/conda_lock/conda_lock.py
@@ -675,6 +675,15 @@ def sanitize_lockfile_line(line: str) -> str:
                 for dep in pip_deps
             ]
         )
+
+        if len(pip_deps) > 0:
+            logger.warning(
+                "WARNING: installation of pip dependencies is only supported "
+                "by the 'conda-lock install' command. Other tools may silently "
+                "ignore them. For portability, we recommend using the newer "
+                "unified lockfile format (i.e. removing the --kind=explicit "
+                "argument."
+            )
     else:
         raise ValueError(f"Unrecognised lock kind {kind}.")
 
diff --git a/docs/pip.md b/docs/pip.md
index 58b1a1e18..1dba37e3c 100644
--- a/docs/pip.md
+++ b/docs/pip.md
@@ -21,6 +21,11 @@ dependencies:
 If in this case `some_pip_only_library` depends on `requests` that dependency will be met by
 conda and the version will be constrained to what the conda solver determines.
 
+We recommend avoiding the `--kind=explicit` flag when there are `pip`
+dependencies. Most tools (except for `conda-lock install`) do not recognize
+`pip` dependencies from explicit lockfiles, so they may be silently ignored.
+The default lockfile format explicitly supports pip dependencies.
+
 ## Usage with pyproject.toml
 
 If a dependency refers directly to a URL rather than a package name and version,