diff --git a/substrate/bin/node/cli/src/command.rs b/substrate/bin/node/cli/src/command.rs
index fcb8b6f008..461930a613 100644
--- a/substrate/bin/node/cli/src/command.rs
+++ b/substrate/bin/node/cli/src/command.rs
@@ -49,15 +49,18 @@ impl SubstrateCli for Cli {
 	}
 
 	fn load_spec(&self, id: &str) -> std::result::Result<Box<dyn sc_service::ChainSpec>, String> {
-		Ok(match id {
-			"dev" => Box::new(chain_spec::development_config()),
-			"local" => Box::new(chain_spec::local_testnet_config()),
-			"" | "fir" | "flaming-fir" => Box::new(chain_spec::flaming_fir_config()?),
-			"staging" => Box::new(chain_spec::staging_testnet_config()),
-			path => Box::new(chain_spec::ChainSpec::from_json_file(
-				std::path::PathBuf::from(path),
-			)?),
-		})
+		let spec =
+			match id {
+				"" => return Err("Please specify which chain you want to run, e.g. --dev or --chain=local".into()),
+				"dev" => Box::new(chain_spec::development_config()),
+				"local" => Box::new(chain_spec::local_testnet_config()),
+				"fir" | "flaming-fir" => Box::new(chain_spec::flaming_fir_config()?),
+				"staging" => Box::new(chain_spec::staging_testnet_config()),
+				path => Box::new(chain_spec::ChainSpec::from_json_file(
+					std::path::PathBuf::from(path),
+				)?),
+			};
+		Ok(spec)
 	}
 
 	fn native_runtime_version(_: &Box<dyn ChainSpec>) -> &'static RuntimeVersion {