diff --git a/pkg/cmd/codespace/ssh.go b/pkg/cmd/codespace/ssh.go
index 5d7c570a8..a0f596e49 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/codespace/ssh.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/codespace/ssh.go
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ import (
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/internal/codespaces"
+	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/pkg/cmdutil"
 	"github.com/cli/cli/v2/pkg/liveshare"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
@@ -193,7 +194,7 @@ users; see https://lwn.net/Articles/835962/ for discussion.
 
 // Copy copies files between the local and remote file systems.
 // The mechanics are similar to 'ssh' but using 'scp'.
-func (a *App) Copy(ctx context.Context, args []string, opts cpOptions) (err error) {
+func (a *App) Copy(ctx context.Context, args []string, opts cpOptions) error {
 	if len(args) < 2 {
 		return fmt.Errorf("cp requires source and destination arguments")
 	}
@@ -201,8 +202,10 @@ func (a *App) Copy(ctx context.Context, args []string, opts cpOptions) (err erro
 		opts.scpArgs = append(opts.scpArgs, "-r")
 	}
 	opts.scpArgs = append(opts.scpArgs, "--")
+	hasRemote := false
 	for _, arg := range args {
 		if rest := strings.TrimPrefix(arg, "remote:"); rest != arg {
+			hasRemote = true
 			// scp treats each filename argument as a shell expression,
 			// subjecting it to expansion of environment variables, braces,
 			// tilde, backticks, globs and so on. Because these present a
@@ -225,6 +228,9 @@ func (a *App) Copy(ctx context.Context, args []string, opts cpOptions) (err erro
 		}
 		opts.scpArgs = append(opts.scpArgs, arg)
 	}
+	if !hasRemote {
+		return &cmdutil.FlagError{Err: fmt.Errorf("at least one argument must have a 'remote:' prefix")}
+	}
 	return a.SSH(ctx, nil, opts.sshOptions)
 }
 
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork.go b/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork.go
index 4134a7ba2..dcd5571f7 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/repo/fork/fork.go
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ func NewCmdFork(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*ForkOptions) error) *cobra.Comman
 		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 &cmdutil.FlagError{Err: fmt.Errorf("repository argument required when passing 'git clone' flags")}
 			}
 			return nil
 		},
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/workflow/run/run.go b/pkg/cmd/workflow/run/run.go
index 0ab3f1749..5f10e515c 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/workflow/run/run.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/workflow/run/run.go
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ func NewCmdRun(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*RunOptions) error) *cobra.Command
 		`),
 		Args: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			if len(opts.MagicFields)+len(opts.RawFields) > 0 && len(args) == 0 {
-				return cmdutil.FlagError{Err: fmt.Errorf("workflow argument required when passing -f or -F")}
+				return &cmdutil.FlagError{Err: fmt.Errorf("workflow argument required when passing -f or -F")}
 			}
 			return nil
 		},
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ func NewCmdRun(f *cmdutil.Factory, runF func(*RunOptions) error) *cobra.Command
 				}
 				opts.JSONInput = string(jsonIn)
 			} else if opts.JSON {
-				return cmdutil.FlagError{Err: errors.New("--json specified but nothing on STDIN")}
+				return &cmdutil.FlagError{Err: errors.New("--json specified but nothing on STDIN")}
 			}
 
 			if opts.Selector == "" {
diff --git a/pkg/cmdutil/errors.go b/pkg/cmdutil/errors.go
index 8ae139ef4..1e40a0185 100644
--- a/pkg/cmdutil/errors.go
+++ b/pkg/cmdutil/errors.go
@@ -6,16 +6,17 @@ import (
 	"github.com/AlecAivazis/survey/v2/terminal"
 )
 
-// FlagError is the kind of error raised in flag processing
+// A *FlagError indicates an error processing command-line flags or other arguments.
+// Such errors cause the application to display the usage message.
 type FlagError struct {
 	Err error
 }
 
-func (fe FlagError) Error() string {
+func (fe *FlagError) Error() string {
 	return fe.Err.Error()
 }
 
-func (fe FlagError) Unwrap() error {
+func (fe *FlagError) Unwrap() error {
 	return fe.Err
 }