diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
index 4f2b3cee..0d7c2a9e 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+- The "no package-lock.json" error when deploying Node.js content now states
+  that Connect installs Node.js dependencies with npm, helping publishers who
+  build with yarn or pnpm understand why a `package-lock.json` is required.
 - `pyproject.toml` can now be supplied via `--requirements-file` for deploy and
   write-manifest.
 - Perform case insensitive matching of the configured Snowflake connection authenticator.
diff --git a/rsconnect/environment_node.py b/rsconnect/environment_node.py
index 30ff0183..9e962a42 100644
--- a/rsconnect/environment_node.py
+++ b/rsconnect/environment_node.py
@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ def create(
         if not has_lock_file:
             raise RSConnectException(
                 f"No package-lock.json found in '{directory}'. "
+                "Connect installs Node.js dependencies with npm. "
                 "Both package.json and package-lock.json are required to deploy Node.js content."
             )
 
diff --git a/tests/test_environment_node.py b/tests/test_environment_node.py
index 6a866234..cbbec72b 100644
--- a/tests/test_environment_node.py
+++ b/tests/test_environment_node.py
@@ -42,7 +42,10 @@ def test_create_basic(self, mock_run):
     def test_create_no_lock_file(self, mock_run, tmp_path):
         (tmp_path / "package.json").write_text(json.dumps({"dependencies": {"express": "^4.21.0"}}))
         (tmp_path / "app.js").write_text("// app")
-        with pytest.raises(RSConnectException, match="No package-lock.json found"):
+        with pytest.raises(
+            RSConnectException,
+            match="No package-lock.json found.*Connect installs Node.js dependencies with npm",
+        ):
             NodeEnvironment.create(str(tmp_path))
 
     @patch("rsconnect.environment_node.subprocess.run", side_effect=_mock_run)