diff --git a/src/prefect/client/subscriptions.py b/src/prefect/client/subscriptions.py
index 91a40e1b4e12..68abdaa33d4b 100644
--- a/src/prefect/client/subscriptions.py
+++ b/src/prefect/client/subscriptions.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 from prefect._internal.schemas.bases import IDBaseModel
 from prefect.logging import get_logger
-from prefect.settings import PREFECT_API_KEY, PREFECT_API_URL
+from prefect.settings import PREFECT_API_KEY
 
 logger = get_logger(__name__)
 
@@ -23,10 +23,11 @@ def __init__(
         path: str,
         keys: List[str],
         client_id: Optional[str] = None,
+        base_url: Optional[str] = None,
     ):
         self.model = model
         self.client_id = client_id
-        base_url = PREFECT_API_URL.value().replace("http", "ws", 1)
+        base_url = base_url.replace("http", "ws", 1)
         self.subscription_url = f"{base_url}{path}"
 
         self.keys = keys
diff --git a/src/prefect/task_worker.py b/src/prefect/task_worker.py
index b5f8080d9201..2e994199d236 100644
--- a/src/prefect/task_worker.py
+++ b/src/prefect/task_worker.py
@@ -139,6 +139,12 @@ async def stop(self):
         raise StopTaskWorker
 
     async def _subscribe_to_task_scheduling(self):
+        base_url = PREFECT_API_URL.value()
+        if base_url is None:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "`PREFECT_API_URL` must be set to use the task worker. "
+                "Task workers are not compatible with the ephemeral API."
+            )
         logger.info(
             f"Subscribing to tasks: {' | '.join(t.task_key.split('.')[-1] for t in self.tasks)}"
         )
@@ -147,6 +153,7 @@ async def _subscribe_to_task_scheduling(self):
             path="/task_runs/subscriptions/scheduled",
             keys=[task.task_key for task in self.tasks],
             client_id=self._client_id,
+            base_url=base_url,
         ):
             if self._limiter:
                 await self._limiter.acquire_on_behalf_of(task_run.id)
diff --git a/tests/test_task_worker.py b/tests/test_task_worker.py
index c166bc473aba..853a8f26f3b0 100644
--- a/tests/test_task_worker.py
+++ b/tests/test_task_worker.py
@@ -11,10 +11,13 @@
 from prefect.exceptions import MissingResult
 from prefect.filesystems import LocalFileSystem
 from prefect.futures import PrefectDistributedFuture
+from prefect.settings import PREFECT_API_URL, temporary_settings
 from prefect.states import Running
 from prefect.task_worker import TaskWorker, serve
 from prefect.tasks import task_input_hash
 
+pytestmark = pytest.mark.usefixtures("use_hosted_api_server")
+
 
 @pytest.fixture(autouse=True)
 async def clear_cached_filesystems():
@@ -87,6 +90,12 @@ def mock_subscription(monkeypatch):
     return mock_subscription
 
 
+async def test_task_worker_does_not_run_against_ephemeral_api():
+    with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+        with temporary_settings({PREFECT_API_URL: None}):
+            await TaskWorker(...)._subscribe_to_task_scheduling()
+
+
 async def test_task_worker_basic_context_management():
     async with TaskWorker(...) as task_worker:
         assert task_worker.started is True