diff --git a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/convert.go b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/convert.go
index c6dc0ef13ec..ea65bc07752 100644
--- a/pkg/kubectl/cmd/convert.go
+++ b/pkg/kubectl/cmd/convert.go
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package cmd
 import (
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
+	"os"
 
 	"github.com/renstrom/dedent"
 
@@ -118,7 +119,7 @@ func (o *ConvertOptions) Complete(f *cmdutil.Factory, out io.Writer, cmd *cobra.
 	clientMapper := resource.ClientMapperFunc(f.ClientForMapping)
 
 	if o.local {
-		fmt.Fprintln(out, "running in local mode...")
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, "running in local mode...")
 		o.builder = resource.NewBuilder(mapper, typer, resource.DisabledClientForMapping{ClientMapper: clientMapper}, f.Decoder(true))
 	} else {
 		o.builder = resource.NewBuilder(mapper, typer, clientMapper, f.Decoder(true))