diff --git a/content/en/guides/core/artifacts/construct-an-artifact.md b/content/en/guides/core/artifacts/construct-an-artifact.md
index f1628186e6..bfe9e81bdf 100644
--- a/content/en/guides/core/artifacts/construct-an-artifact.md
+++ b/content/en/guides/core/artifacts/construct-an-artifact.md
@@ -173,6 +173,10 @@ Add an external URI reference to an artifact with the [`add_reference`]({{< relr
 artifact.add_reference(uri="uri", name="optional-name")
 ```
 
+{{% alert color="warning" %}}
+If you set `checksum=False` when adding a reference, the artifact cannot be downloaded later. Only use `checksum=False` when you need to track reference URIs without downloading capability. For downloadable artifacts, always use `checksum=True` (the default).
+{{% /alert %}}
+
 Artifacts currently support the following URI schemes:
 
 * `http(s)://`: A path to a file accessible over HTTP. The artifact will track checksums in the form of etags and size metadata if the HTTP server supports the `ETag` and `Content-Length` response headers.
diff --git a/content/en/guides/core/artifacts/download-and-use-an-artifact.md b/content/en/guides/core/artifacts/download-and-use-an-artifact.md
index 6ef4193e2e..b5e76ea57d 100644
--- a/content/en/guides/core/artifacts/download-and-use-an-artifact.md
+++ b/content/en/guides/core/artifacts/download-and-use-an-artifact.md
@@ -14,6 +14,18 @@ Download and use an artifact that is already stored on the W&B server or constru
 Team members with view-only seats cannot download artifacts.
 {{% /alert %}}
 
+{{% alert color="warning" %}}
+Artifacts created with reference URIs using `checksum=False` cannot be downloaded. To ensure your artifacts can be downloaded, use `checksum=True` (the default) when adding references:
+
+```python
+# This artifact can be downloaded
+artifact.add_reference("s3://my-bucket/model.h5", checksum=True)
+
+# This artifact cannot be downloaded
+artifact.add_reference("s3://my-bucket/model.h5", checksum=False)
+```
+{{% /alert %}}
+
 
 ### Download and use an artifact stored on W&B