diff --git a/tools/cli/commands.js b/tools/cli/commands.js
index 38a41e83b1..21c35148c8 100644
--- a/tools/cli/commands.js
+++ b/tools/cli/commands.js
@@ -1190,6 +1190,12 @@ main.registerCommand({
       Console.command("meteor deploy appname"), Console.options({ indent: 2 }));
     return 1;
   }
+  
+  if (process.env.MONGO_URL) {
+    Console.info("As a precaution, meteor reset only clears the local database that is " +
+                 "provided by meteor run for development. The database specified with " +
+                 "MONGO_URL will NOT be reset.");
+  }
 
   // XXX detect the case where Meteor is running the app, but
   // MONGO_URL was set, so we don't see a Mongo process