diff --git a/install.sh b/install.sh
index 7c07e9f..55d1b27 100755
--- a/install.sh
+++ b/install.sh
@@ -25,6 +25,25 @@ DISTRO=$(detect_distro)
 # Dependencies
 # ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+# On Arch-based systems, partial upgrades are unsupported — installing a
+# package that pulls in a newer library breaks packages built against the old
+# one.  The right fix is 'sudo pacman -Syu', but doing that over SSH risks
+# a dropped connection mid-kernel-upgrade.  So we just warn and let the user
+# decide.
+check_arch_updates() {
+  sudo pacman -Sy --noconfirm  # refresh databases only, no upgrade
+  local updates
+  updates=$(pacman -Qu 2>/dev/null | wc -l)
+  if [[ "$updates" -gt 0 ]]; then
+    echo ""
+    echo "WARNING: $updates system package(s) are out of date."
+    echo "  If pacman fails with dependency conflicts, run 'sudo pacman -Syu'"
+    echo "  locally (not over SSH, to avoid kernel upgrade risks), then re-run"
+    echo "  this script."
+    echo ""
+  fi
+}
+
 case "$DISTRO" in
   endeavouros)
     # EndeavourOS is Arch-based, use pacman
@@ -52,6 +71,7 @@ case "$DISTRO" in
       firefox
     )
 
+    check_arch_updates
     echo "Installing packages for EndeavourOS..."
     sudo pacman -S --noconfirm "${PACMAN_PACKAGES[@]}"
     ;;
@@ -110,6 +130,7 @@ case "$DISTRO" in
       firefox
     )
 
+    check_arch_updates
     echo "Installing packages for Arch Linux..."
     sudo pacman -S --noconfirm "${PACMAN_PACKAGES[@]}"
     ;;