diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 29d9052..82c837b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,10 @@
+# 0.2.18 (2026-06-16)
+
+# Improvements
+
+- Warn about unknown labels in `--include` and `--exclude` options of `dtc auto-curate`.
+
+
 # 0.2.17 (2026-03-31)
 
 ## New features
@@ -7,7 +14,7 @@
   curated areas, if a matching records does not already exist. If
   `--jsonpath-spec JSONPATH_SPEC` is provided two records match if they are
   identical after all elements that match `JSONPATH_SPEC` are removed. If
-  `--jsonpath-spec` is not povided, two records match if they are identical.
+  `--jsonpath-spec` is not provided, two records match if they are identical.
 
 ## Improvements
 
diff --git a/dump_things_pyclient/commands/dtc_plugins/auto_curate.py b/dump_things_pyclient/commands/dtc_plugins/auto_curate.py
index 620cf12..a31e4e0 100644
--- a/dump_things_pyclient/commands/dtc_plugins/auto_curate.py
+++ b/dump_things_pyclient/commands/dtc_plugins/auto_curate.py
@@ -332,7 +332,9 @@ def auto_curate(
             session=session,
         )
 
+    processed_labels = set()
     for label in all_labels:
+        processed_labels.add(label)
         if include and label not in include:
             logger.debug('ignoring non-included incoming label: %s', label)
             continue
@@ -445,6 +447,14 @@ def auto_curate(
             if result != 0:
                 return result
 
+    for label_set, option_name in ((set(include), 'include'), (set(exclude), 'exclude')):
+        unknown_labels = label_set - processed_labels
+        if unknown_labels:
+            console.print(
+                f'[yellow]Warning[/yellow]: non-existing labels in --{option_name}: '
+                + ', '.join(f'"{label}"' for label in unknown_labels)
+            )
+
     if create_change_set:
         click.echo(str(create_change_set))
     elif output is not None:
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 330ae96..a5ce86f 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "dump-things-pyclient"
-version = "0.2.17"
+version = "0.2.18"
 description = "A client library and CLI commands for dump-things-services"
 readme = "README.md"
 requires-python = ">=3.11"
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 3f29c7c..2cec1a1 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -417,7 +417,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "dump-things-pyclient"
-version = "0.2.17"
+version = "0.2.18"
 source = { virtual = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "click" },