diff --git a/.changeset/warm-preload-on-demand.md b/.changeset/warm-preload-on-demand.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a8093e44b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/warm-preload-on-demand.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@tanstack/db": patch
+---
+
+Add warning when calling `.preload()` on collections with `on-demand` syncMode. In on-demand mode, data is only loaded when queries request it, so calling `.preload()` on the collection itself is a no-op. Users should create a live query and call `.preload()` on that instead.
diff --git a/packages/db/src/collection/sync.ts b/packages/db/src/collection/sync.ts
index e0f06d572..0485558a8 100644
--- a/packages/db/src/collection/sync.ts
+++ b/packages/db/src/collection/sync.ts
@@ -231,6 +231,16 @@ export class CollectionSyncManager<
       return this.preloadPromise
     }
 
+    // Warn when calling preload on an on-demand collection
+    if (this.syncMode === `on-demand`) {
+      console.warn(
+        `${this.id ? `[${this.id}] ` : ``}Calling .preload() on a collection with syncMode "on-demand" is a no-op. ` +
+          `In on-demand mode, data is only loaded when queries request it. ` +
+          `Instead, create a live query and call .preload() on that to load the specific data you need. ` +
+          `See https://tanstack.com/blog/tanstack-db-0.5-query-driven-sync for more details.`
+      )
+    }
+
     this.preloadPromise = new Promise<void>((resolve, reject) => {
       if (this.lifecycle.status === `ready`) {
         resolve()