diff --git a/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork.go b/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork.go
index 0eb5569c8..ce99f4a6b 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork.go
@@ -50,8 +50,13 @@ func NewCmdFork(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*ForkOptions) error) *cobra.Comman
 	}
 
 	cmd := &cobra.Command{
-		Use:   "fork [<repository>] [-- <gitflags>...]",
-		Args:  cobra.MaximumNArgs(2),
+		Use: "fork [<repository>] [-- <gitflags>...]",
+		Args: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+			if cmd.ArgsLenAtDash() == 0 && len(args[1:]) > 0 {
+				return cmdutil.FlagError{Err: fmt.Errorf("repository argument required when passing 'git clone' flags")}
+			}
+			return nil
+		},
 		Short: "Create a fork of a repository",
 		Long: `Create a fork of a repository.