diff --git a/main/main.cpp b/main/main.cpp
index e8086db9d3c..fb21ee502f9 100644
--- a/main/main.cpp
+++ b/main/main.cpp
@@ -1801,6 +1801,13 @@ Error Main::setup(const char *execpath, int argc, char *argv[], bool p_second_ph
 		} else if (arg == "--" || arg == "++") {
 			adding_user_args = true;
 		} else {
+			if (!FileAccess::exists(arg) && !DirAccess::exists(arg)) {
+				// Warn if the argument isn't recognized by Godot *and* the file/folder
+				// specified by a positional argument doesn't exist.
+				// This allows projects to read file or folder paths as a positional argument
+				// without printing a warning, as this scenario can't make use of user command line arguments.
+				WARN_PRINT(vformat("Unknown command line argument \"%s\". User arguments should be passed after a -- or ++ separator, e.g. \"-- %s\".", arg, arg));
+			}
 			main_args.push_back(arg);
 		}