diff --git a/jaydebeapiarrow/__init__.py b/jaydebeapiarrow/__init__.py
index 9b1f8053..c8a80ccf 100644
--- a/jaydebeapiarrow/__init__.py
+++ b/jaydebeapiarrow/__init__.py
@@ -396,6 +396,14 @@ def connect(jclassname, url, driver_args=None, jars=None, libs=None):
     libs: Dll/so filenames or sequence of dlls/sos used as shared
           library by the JDBC driver
     """
+    if not isinstance(url, str):
+        raise ProgrammingError(
+            "The 'url' parameter must be a JDBC connection string, "
+            "not %s. If you meant to pass connection credentials, "
+            "use the 'driver_args' parameter. "
+            "Usage: connect(jclassname, url, driver_args=None, jars=None, libs=None)"
+            % type(url).__name__
+        )
     if isinstance(driver_args, str):
         driver_args = [ driver_args ]
     if not driver_args:
diff --git a/test/test_integration.py b/test/test_integration.py
index c9242f0d..5f101a35 100644
--- a/test/test_integration.py
+++ b/test/test_integration.py
@@ -2007,3 +2007,12 @@ def test_hsqldb_jar_path_with_spaces(self):
             )
             self.assertTrue(result.stdout.strip().startswith('OK'),
                             f'Connection failed: {result.stdout}\n{result.stderr}')
+
+    def test_connect_url_must_be_string(self):
+        """Passing a list as url should raise ProgrammingError (issue #95)."""
+        with self.assertRaises(jaydebeapiarrow.ProgrammingError) as ctx:
+            jaydebeapiarrow.connect(
+                'org.hsqldb.jdbcDriver',
+                ['jdbc:hsqldb:mem:.', 'SA', '']
+            )
+        self.assertIn('url', str(ctx.exception).lower())
diff --git a/test/test_mock.py b/test/test_mock.py
index c45843d4..ad965c6d 100644
--- a/test/test_mock.py
+++ b/test/test_mock.py
@@ -1327,3 +1327,25 @@ def test_jar_path_with_special_chars(self):
             shutil.copy2(mock_jar, dest)
             stdout, stderr = self._run_connect_in_subprocess(dest)
         self.assertEqual(stdout, 'OK', f'Connection failed: {stderr}')
+
+
+class ConnectValidationTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Tests for connect() argument validation (issue #95)."""
+
+    def test_url_must_be_string_not_list(self):
+        """Passing a list as url should raise ProgrammingError."""
+        with self.assertRaises(jaydebeapiarrow.ProgrammingError) as ctx:
+            jaydebeapiarrow.connect(
+                'org.jaydebeapi.mockdriver.MockDriver',
+                ['jdbc:jaydebeapi://dummyurl', 'user', 'pass']
+            )
+        self.assertIn('url', str(ctx.exception).lower())
+
+    def test_url_must_be_string_not_dict(self):
+        """Passing a dict as url should raise ProgrammingError."""
+        with self.assertRaises(jaydebeapiarrow.ProgrammingError) as ctx:
+            jaydebeapiarrow.connect(
+                'org.jaydebeapi.mockdriver.MockDriver',
+                {'user': 'sa', 'password': ''}
+            )
+        self.assertIn('url', str(ctx.exception).lower())