diff --git a/internal/oci/push.go b/internal/oci/push.go
index 1e2d0f2e95..883378f440 100644
--- a/internal/oci/push.go
+++ b/internal/oci/push.go
@@ -94,12 +94,14 @@ func DescriptorForEnvFile(path string, content []byte) v1.Descriptor {
 	}
 }
 
-func PushManifest(ctx context.Context, resolver remotes.Resolver, named reference.Named, layers []v1.Descriptor, ociVersion api.OCIVersion) (v1.Descriptor, error) {
+// PushManifest pushes the manifest for a Compose OCI artifact and returns
+// the OCI version actually used.
+func PushManifest(ctx context.Context, resolver remotes.Resolver, named reference.Named, layers []v1.Descriptor, ociVersion api.OCIVersion) (v1.Descriptor, api.OCIVersion, error) {
 	// Check if we need an extra empty layer for the manifest config
 	if ociVersion == api.OCIVersion1_1 || ociVersion == "" {
 		err := push(ctx, resolver, named, v1.DescriptorEmptyJSON)
 		if err != nil {
-			return v1.Descriptor{}, err
+			return v1.Descriptor{}, "", err
 		}
 	}
 	// prepare to push the manifest by pushing the layers
@@ -107,13 +109,14 @@ func PushManifest(ctx context.Context, resolver remotes.Resolver, named referenc
 	for i := range layers {
 		layerDescriptors[i] = layers[i]
 		if err := push(ctx, resolver, named, layers[i]); err != nil {
-			return v1.Descriptor{}, err
+			return v1.Descriptor{}, "", err
 		}
 	}
 
 	if ociVersion != "" {
 		// if a version was explicitly specified, use it
-		return createAndPushManifest(ctx, resolver, named, layerDescriptors, ociVersion)
+		descriptor, err := createAndPushManifest(ctx, resolver, named, layerDescriptors, ociVersion)
+		return descriptor, ociVersion, err
 	}
 
 	// try to push in the OCI 1.1 format but fallback to OCI 1.0 on 4xx errors
@@ -122,10 +125,10 @@ func PushManifest(ctx context.Context, resolver remotes.Resolver, named referenc
 	descriptor, err := createAndPushManifest(ctx, resolver, named, layerDescriptors, api.OCIVersion1_1)
 	var pushErr pusherrors.ErrUnexpectedStatus
 	if errors.As(err, &pushErr) && isNonAuthClientError(pushErr.StatusCode) {
-		// TODO(milas): show a warning here (won't work with logrus)
-		return createAndPushManifest(ctx, resolver, named, layerDescriptors, api.OCIVersion1_0)
+		descriptor, err = createAndPushManifest(ctx, resolver, named, layerDescriptors, api.OCIVersion1_0)
+		return descriptor, api.OCIVersion1_0, err
 	}
-	return descriptor, err
+	return descriptor, api.OCIVersion1_1, err
 }
 
 func push(ctx context.Context, resolver remotes.Resolver, ref reference.Named, descriptor v1.Descriptor) error {
diff --git a/pkg/compose/publish.go b/pkg/compose/publish.go
index f0fb5c2313..8293f8f45e 100644
--- a/pkg/compose/publish.go
+++ b/pkg/compose/publish.go
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ func (s *composeService) pushComposeArtifact(ctx context.Context, project *types
 
 	resolver := oci.NewResolver(s.configFile(), desktop.ProxyTransportFor(ctx, s.apiClient()), insecureRegistries...)
 
-	descriptor, err := oci.PushManifest(ctx, resolver, named, layers, options.OCIVersion)
+	descriptor, usedOCIVersion, err := oci.PushManifest(ctx, resolver, named, layers, options.OCIVersion)
 	if err != nil {
 		s.events.On(api.Resource{
 			ID:     repository,
@@ -128,6 +128,9 @@ func (s *composeService) pushComposeArtifact(ctx context.Context, project *types
 		})
 		return err
 	}
+	if options.OCIVersion == "" && usedOCIVersion == api.OCIVersion1_0 {
+		logrus.Warn("registry does not support OCI 1.1 artifacts; falling back to OCI 1.0 format")
+	}
 
 	if options.Application {
 		return pushApplicationIndex(ctx, resolver, named, descriptor, project)