diff --git a/src/httpx2/httpx2/_config.py b/src/httpx2/httpx2/_config.py
index 46a6e6ec..0e9bb7ff 100644
--- a/src/httpx2/httpx2/_config.py
+++ b/src/httpx2/httpx2/_config.py
@@ -42,14 +42,20 @@ def create_ssl_context(
         ctx = ssl.SSLContext(ssl.PROTOCOL_TLS_CLIENT)
         ctx.check_hostname = False
         ctx.verify_mode = ssl.CERT_NONE
-    elif isinstance(verify, str):  # pragma: nocover
+    elif isinstance(verify, str):
+        if cert:
+            raise TypeError(
+                "`verify=<str>` cannot be combined with `cert=...`. "
+                "Build an `ssl.SSLContext` and pass it as `verify=<ctx>`, "
+                "using `.load_cert_chain()` to configure the certificate chain."
+            )
         message = (
             "`verify=<str>` is deprecated. "
             "Use `verify=ssl.create_default_context(cafile=...)` "
             "or `verify=ssl.create_default_context(capath=...)` instead."
         )
         warnings.warn(message, DeprecationWarning)
-        if os.path.isdir(verify):
+        if os.path.isdir(verify):  # pragma: nocover
             return ssl.create_default_context(capath=verify)
         return ssl.create_default_context(cafile=verify)
     else:
diff --git a/tests/httpx2/test_config.py b/tests/httpx2/test_config.py
index ef47844e..abf2f501 100644
--- a/tests/httpx2/test_config.py
+++ b/tests/httpx2/test_config.py
@@ -83,6 +83,17 @@ def test_load_ssl_config_no_verify() -> None:
     assert context.check_hostname is False
 
 
+def test_create_ssl_context_verify_str(cert_pem_file: str) -> None:
+    with pytest.warns(DeprecationWarning, match="`verify=<str>` is deprecated"):
+        context = httpx2.create_ssl_context(verify=cert_pem_file)
+    assert context.verify_mode == ssl.VerifyMode.CERT_REQUIRED
+
+
+def test_create_ssl_context_verify_str_with_cert_raises(cert_pem_file: str, cert_private_key_file: str) -> None:
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError, match="cannot be combined with `cert=...`"):
+        httpx2.create_ssl_context(verify=cert_pem_file, cert=(cert_pem_file, cert_private_key_file))
+
+
 def test_SSLContext_with_get_request(server: TestServer, cert_pem_file: str) -> None:
     context = httpx2.create_ssl_context()
     context.load_verify_locations(cert_pem_file)