diff --git a/crates/uv/src/commands/publish.rs b/crates/uv/src/commands/publish.rs
index edd7e332f..a39f73768 100644
--- a/crates/uv/src/commands/publish.rs
+++ b/crates/uv/src/commands/publish.rs
@@ -81,6 +81,10 @@ pub(crate) async fn publish(
         }
     };
 
+    if password.is_some() && username.is_none() {
+        bail!("You need to provide a username with a password, use `--token` for tokens");
+    }
+
     for (file, filename) in files {
         let size = fs_err::metadata(&file)?.len();
         let (bytes, unit) = human_readable_bytes(size);