diff --git a/pkg/commands/options/validate.go b/pkg/commands/options/validate.go
index 8ed92d5ecf..4106bd6441 100644
--- a/pkg/commands/options/validate.go
+++ b/pkg/commands/options/validate.go
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@
 
 package options
 
-import "log"
+import (
+	"log"
+	"strings"
+)
 
 const bareBaseFlagsWarning = `WARNING!
 -----------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -26,11 +29,25 @@ In a future release this will be an error.
 -----------------------------------------------------------------
 `
 
+const localFlagsWarning = `WARNING!
+-----------------------------------------------------------------
+The --local flag is set and KO_DOCKER_REPO is set to ko.local
+
+You can choose either one to build a local image.
+
+The --local flag might be deprecated in the future.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------
+`
+
 func Validate(po *PublishOptions, bo *BuildOptions) error {
 	if po.Bare && po.BaseImportPaths {
 		log.Print(bareBaseFlagsWarning)
 		// TODO: return error when we decided to make this an error, for now it is a warning
 	}
 
+	if po.Local && strings.Contains(po.DockerRepo, "ko.local") {
+		log.Print(localFlagsWarning)
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }