diff --git a/src/huggingface_hub/utils/__init__.py b/src/huggingface_hub/utils/__init__.py
index 9b01e40496..76f80ef529 100644
--- a/src/huggingface_hub/utils/__init__.py
+++ b/src/huggingface_hub/utils/__init__.py
@@ -23,9 +23,25 @@
 
 
 def run_subprocess(command, folder, check=True) -> subprocess.CompletedProcess:
+    """
+    Method to run subprocesses. Calling this will capture the `stderr` and `stdout`,
+    please call `subprocess.run` manually in case you would like for them not to
+    be captured.
+
+    Args:
+        command (`str`):
+            The command to execute
+        folder (`str`):
+            The folder in which to run the command.
+        check (`bool`, *optional*, defaults to `True`):
+            Setting `check` to `True` will raise a `subprocess.CalledProcessError`
+            when the subprocess has a non-zero exit code.
+
+    Returns:
+        `subprocess.CompletedProcess`: The completed process.
+    """
     if isinstance(command, str):
-        logger.error("`run_subprocess` should be called with a list of strings.")
-        command = command.split()
+        raise ValueError("`run_subprocess` should be called with a list of strings.")
 
     return subprocess.run(
         command,