diff --git a/news/2 Fixes/18530.md b/news/2 Fixes/18530.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..306c991183ca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/news/2 Fixes/18530.md	
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+If a conda environment is not returned via the `conda env list` command, consider it as unknown env type.
diff --git a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/composite/resolverUtils.ts b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/composite/resolverUtils.ts
index bc04869cc19c..abc08c0a7833 100644
--- a/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/composite/resolverUtils.ts
+++ b/src/client/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/composite/resolverUtils.ts
@@ -173,6 +173,7 @@ async function resolveCondaEnv(env: BasicEnvInfo, useCache?: boolean): Promise<P
         } info' command`,
     );
     // Environment could still be valid, resolve as a simple env.
+    env.kind = PythonEnvKind.Unknown;
     return resolveSimpleEnv(env);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/test/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/composite/resolverUtils.unit.test.ts b/src/test/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/composite/resolverUtils.unit.test.ts
index 73802c6fef6a..e1ff24802746 100644
--- a/src/test/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/composite/resolverUtils.unit.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/pythonEnvironments/base/locators/composite/resolverUtils.unit.test.ts
@@ -280,7 +280,7 @@ suite('Resolver Utils', () => {
             );
         });
 
-        test('resolveEnv: If no conda binary found, resolve as a simple environment', async () => {
+        test('resolveEnv: If no conda binary found, resolve as an unknown environment', async () => {
             sinon.stub(platformApis, 'getOSType').callsFake(() => platformApis.OSType.Windows);
             sinon.stub(externalDependencies, 'shellExecute').callsFake(async (command: string) => {
                 throw new Error(`${command} is missing or is not executable`);
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ suite('Resolver Utils', () => {
                 actual,
                 createSimpleEnvInfo(
                     path.join(TEST_LAYOUT_ROOT, 'conda1', 'python.exe'),
-                    PythonEnvKind.Conda,
+                    PythonEnvKind.Unknown,
                     undefined,
                     'conda1',
                     path.join(TEST_LAYOUT_ROOT, 'conda1'),
@@ -616,8 +616,8 @@ suite('Resolver Utils', () => {
             });
             const expected = buildEnvInfo({
                 location: path.join(regTestRoot, 'conda3'),
-                // Environment should already be marked as Conda. No need to update it to Global.
-                kind: PythonEnvKind.Conda,
+                // Environment is not marked as Conda, update it to Global.
+                kind: PythonEnvKind.OtherGlobal,
                 executable: interpreterPath,
                 // Registry does not provide the minor version, so keep version provided by Conda resolver instead.
                 version: parseVersion('3.8.5'),