diff --git a/pkg/compose/wait.go b/pkg/compose/wait.go
index 622803e9b..32c34ce4d 100644
--- a/pkg/compose/wait.go
+++ b/pkg/compose/wait.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package compose
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"errors"
 	"fmt"
 
 	"github.com/moby/moby/client"
@@ -27,6 +28,12 @@ import (
 )
 
 func (s *composeService) Wait(ctx context.Context, projectName string, options api.WaitOptions) (int64, error) {
+	if s.dryRun {
+		// dry-run never starts a real container, so there is nothing for
+		// wait to observe: refuse upfront instead of racing the fake API
+		// client into a misleading "no containers" error.
+		return 0, errors.New("wait is not supported in dry-run mode")
+	}
 	containers, err := s.getContainers(ctx, projectName, oneOffInclude, false, options.Services...)
 	if err != nil {
 		return 0, err
diff --git a/pkg/compose/wait_test.go b/pkg/compose/wait_test.go
index f86b3c7a7..493663117 100644
--- a/pkg/compose/wait_test.go
+++ b/pkg/compose/wait_test.go
@@ -82,6 +82,18 @@ func TestWait_NoContainersAtAll(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, *allCalls, 1)
 }
 
+// TestWait_DryRunNotSupported: dry-run refuses immediately, without
+// listing containers.
+func TestWait_DryRunNotSupported(t *testing.T) {
+	tested, _, runningCalls, allCalls := waitTestService(t, nil, nil)
+	tested.(*composeService).dryRun = true
+
+	_, err := tested.Wait(t.Context(), "proj", api.WaitOptions{})
+	assert.ErrorContains(t, err, "not supported in dry-run mode")
+	assert.Equal(t, *runningCalls, 0)
+	assert.Equal(t, *allCalls, 0)
+}
+
 // TestWait_RunningContainersSkipFallback: with a running container to
 // observe, the fallback listing never runs — a stale exited one-off cannot
 // short-circuit the wait.