diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c00e5e8557..8ab9c6610a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 * A tilde (`~`) at the start of the path will now be expanded to the user's home
   directory when configuring a `signing.key` for SSH commit signing.
+  
+* When reconfiguring the author, warn that the working copy won't be updated
 
 ### Fixed bugs
 
diff --git a/cli/src/commands/config/set.rs b/cli/src/commands/config/set.rs
index cfa8106c2d..6e4bed58d1 100644
--- a/cli/src/commands/config/set.rs
+++ b/cli/src/commands/config/set.rs
@@ -12,10 +12,14 @@
 // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 // limitations under the License.
 
+use std::io;
+
+use jj_lib::commit::Commit;
+use jj_lib::repo::Repo;
 use tracing::instrument;
 
 use super::ConfigLevelArgs;
-use crate::cli_util::{get_new_config_file_path, CommandHelper};
+use crate::cli_util::{get_new_config_file_path, CommandHelper, WorkspaceCommandHelper};
 use crate::command_error::{user_error, CommandError};
 use crate::config::{
     parse_toml_value_or_bare_string, write_config_value_to_file, ConfigNamePathBuf,
@@ -33,9 +37,15 @@ pub struct ConfigSetArgs {
     level: ConfigLevelArgs,
 }
 
+/// Denotes a type of author change
+enum AuthorChange {
+    Name,
+    Email,
+}
+
 #[instrument(skip_all)]
 pub fn cmd_config_set(
-    _ui: &mut Ui,
+    ui: &mut Ui,
     command: &CommandHelper,
     args: &ConfigSetArgs,
 ) -> Result<(), CommandError> {
@@ -46,7 +56,59 @@ pub fn cmd_config_set(
             path = config_path.display()
         )));
     }
+
     // TODO(#531): Infer types based on schema (w/ --type arg to override).
     let value = parse_toml_value_or_bare_string(&args.value);
+
+    // If the user is trying to change the author config, we should warn them that
+    // it won't affect the working copy author
+    if args.name == ConfigNamePathBuf::from_iter(vec!["user", "name"]) {
+        check_wc_author(ui, command, &value, AuthorChange::Name)?;
+    } else if args.name == ConfigNamePathBuf::from_iter(vec!["user", "email"]) {
+        check_wc_author(ui, command, &value, AuthorChange::Email)?;
+    };
+
     write_config_value_to_file(&args.name, value, &config_path)
 }
+
+/// Returns the commit of the working copy if it exists.
+fn maybe_wc_commit(helper: &WorkspaceCommandHelper) -> Option<Commit> {
+    let repo = helper.repo();
+    let id = helper.get_wc_commit_id()?;
+    repo.store().get_commit(id).ok()
+}
+
+/// Check if the working copy author name matches the user's config value
+/// If it doesn't, print a warning message
+fn check_wc_author(
+    ui: &mut Ui,
+    command: &CommandHelper,
+    new_value: &toml_edit::Value,
+    author_change: AuthorChange,
+) -> io::Result<()> {
+    let helper = match command.workspace_helper(ui) {
+        Ok(helper) => helper,
+        Err(_) => return Ok(()), // config set should work even if cwd isn't a jj repo
+    };
+    if let Some(wc_commit) = maybe_wc_commit(&helper) {
+        let author = wc_commit.author();
+        let orig_value = match author_change {
+            AuthorChange::Name => &author.name,
+            AuthorChange::Email => &author.email,
+        };
+        if new_value.as_str() != Some(orig_value) {
+            warn_wc_author(ui, &author.name, &author.email)?
+        }
+    }
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+/// Prints a warning message about the working copy to the user
+fn warn_wc_author(ui: &Ui, user_name: &str, user_email: &str) -> io::Result<()> {
+    Ok(writeln!(
+        ui.warning_default(),
+        "This setting will only impact future commits.\nThe author of the working copy will stay \
+         \"{user_name} <{user_email}>\".\nTo change the working copy author, use \"jj describe \
+         --reset-author --no-edit\""
+    )?)
+}
diff --git a/cli/tests/test_config_command.rs b/cli/tests/test_config_command.rs
index ca1c07adbd..8833f012a4 100644
--- a/cli/tests/test_config_command.rs
+++ b/cli/tests/test_config_command.rs
@@ -857,6 +857,43 @@ fn test_config_show_paths() {
     "###);
 }
 
+#[test]
+fn test_config_author_change_warning() {
+    let test_env = TestEnvironment::default();
+    test_env.jj_cmd_ok(test_env.env_root(), &["git", "init", "repo"]);
+    let repo_path = test_env.env_root().join("repo");
+    let (stdout, stderr) = test_env.jj_cmd_ok(
+        &repo_path,
+        &["config", "set", "--repo", "user.email", "'Foo'"],
+    );
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(stdout, @"");
+    insta::assert_snapshot!(stderr, @r###"
+    Warning: This setting will only impact future commits.
+    The author of the working copy will stay "Test User <test.user@example.com>".
+    To change the working copy author, use "jj describe --reset-author --no-edit"
+    "###);
+
+    // test_env.jj_cmd resets state for every invocation
+    // for this test, the state (user.email) is needed
+    let mut log_cmd = test_env.jj_cmd(&repo_path, &["describe", "--reset-author", "--no-edit"]);
+    log_cmd.env_remove("JJ_EMAIL");
+    log_cmd.assert().success();
+
+    let (stdout, _) = test_env.jj_cmd_ok(&repo_path, &["log"]);
+    assert!(stdout.contains("Foo"));
+}
+
+#[test]
+fn test_config_author_change_warning_root_env() {
+    let mut test_env = TestEnvironment::default();
+    let user_config_path = test_env.config_path().join("config.toml");
+    test_env.set_config_path(user_config_path);
+    test_env.jj_cmd_success(
+        test_env.env_root(),
+        &["config", "set", "--user", "user.email", "'Foo'"],
+    );
+}
+
 fn find_stdout_lines(keyname_pattern: &str, stdout: &str) -> String {
     let key_line_re = Regex::new(&format!(r"(?m)^{keyname_pattern} = .*$")).unwrap();
     key_line_re