diff --git a/flytekit/extras/tasks/shell.py b/flytekit/extras/tasks/shell.py
index ef9cd0c0e1..ec728feeee 100644
--- a/flytekit/extras/tasks/shell.py
+++ b/flytekit/extras/tasks/shell.py
@@ -76,17 +76,26 @@ def subproc_execute(command: typing.Union[List[str], str], **kwargs) -> ProcessR
 
     kwargs = {**defaults, **kwargs}
 
-    try:
-        # Execute the command and capture stdout and stderr
-        result = subprocess.run(command, **kwargs)
-        print(result.check_returncode())
-
-        if "|" in command and kwargs.get("shell"):
+    if kwargs.get("shell"):
+        if "|" in command:
             logger.warning(
                 """Found a pipe in the command and shell=True.
                 This can lead to silent failures if subsequent commands
                 succeed despite previous failures."""
             )
+        if type(command) == list:
+            logger.warning(
+                """Found `command` formatted as a list instead of a string with shell=True.
+                With this configuration, the first member of the list will be
+                executed and the remaining arguments will be passed as arguments
+                to the shell instead of to the binary being called. This may not
+                be intended behavior and may lead to confusing failures."""
+            )
+
+    try:
+        # Execute the command and capture stdout and stderr
+        result = subprocess.run(command, **kwargs)
+        result.check_returncode()
 
         # Access the stdout and stderr output
         return ProcessResult(result.returncode, result.stdout, result.stderr)