diff --git a/cmd/osbuild-pipeline/main.go b/cmd/osbuild-pipeline/main.go
index 370c41eb8..457d0ab42 100644
--- a/cmd/osbuild-pipeline/main.go
+++ b/cmd/osbuild-pipeline/main.go
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ package main
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"flag"
+	"fmt"
+	"github.com/osbuild/osbuild-composer/internal/common"
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"os"
 
@@ -12,16 +14,42 @@ import (
 )
 
 func main() {
-	var format string
+	var imageType string
 	var blueprintArg string
 	var archArg string
 	var distroArg string
-	flag.StringVar(&format, "output-format", "", "output format")
-	flag.StringVar(&blueprintArg, "blueprint", "", "blueprint to translate")
-	flag.StringVar(&archArg, "arch", "", "architecture to create image for")
-	flag.StringVar(&distroArg, "distro", "", "distribution to create")
+	flag.StringVar(&imageType, "image-type", "", "image type, e.g. qcow2 or ami")
+	flag.StringVar(&blueprintArg, "blueprint", "", "path to a JSON file containing a blueprint to translate")
+	flag.StringVar(&archArg, "arch", "", "architecture to create image for, e.g. x86_64")
+	flag.StringVar(&distroArg, "distro", "", "distribution to create, e.g. fedora-30")
 	flag.Parse()
 
+	// Print help usage if one of the required arguments wasn't provided
+	if imageType == "" || blueprintArg == "" || archArg == "" || distroArg == "" {
+		flag.Usage()
+		return
+	}
+	
+	// Validate architecture
+	if !common.ArchitectureExists(archArg) {
+		_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "The provided architecture (%s) is not supported. Use one of these:\n", archArg)
+		for _, arch := range common.ListArchitectures() {
+			_, _ = fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, " *", arch)
+		}
+		return
+	}
+
+	// Validate distribution
+	if !common.DistributionExists(distroArg) {
+		_, _ = fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "The provided distribution (%s) is not supported. Use one of these:\n", distroArg)
+		for _, distro := range common.ListDistributions() {
+			_, _ = fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, " *", distro)
+		}
+		return
+	}
+	
+	// Validate image type
+
 	blueprint := &blueprint.Blueprint{}
 	if blueprintArg != "" {
 		file, err := ioutil.ReadFile(blueprintArg)
@@ -58,7 +86,7 @@ func main() {
 		panic(err.Error())
 	}
 
-	pipeline, err := d.Pipeline(blueprint, nil, checksums, archArg, format, 0)
+	pipeline, err := d.Pipeline(blueprint, nil, checksums, archArg, imageType, 0)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err.Error())
 	}
diff --git a/internal/common/types.go b/internal/common/types.go
index 8b2286c8f..38c8846bc 100644
--- a/internal/common/types.go
+++ b/internal/common/types.go
@@ -37,6 +37,23 @@ func marshalHelper(input int, mapping map[string]int, errorMessage string) ([]by
 	return nil, &CustomJsonConversionError{fmt.Sprintf("%d %s", input, errorMessage)}
 }
 
+func listHelper(mapping map[string]int) []string {
+	ret := make([]string, 0)
+	for k,_ := range mapping {
+		ret = append(ret, k)
+	}
+	return ret
+}
+
+func existsHelper(mapping map[string]int, testedValue string) bool {
+	for k, _ := range mapping {
+		if k == testedValue {
+			return true
+		}
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 // Architecture represents one of the supported CPU architectures available for images
 // produced by osbuild-composer. It is represented as an integer because if it
 // was a string it would unmarshal from JSON just fine even in case that the architecture
@@ -72,6 +89,14 @@ func getArchMapping() map[string]int {
 	return mapping
 }
 
+func ListArchitectures() []string {
+	return listHelper(getArchMapping())
+}
+
+func ArchitectureExists(testedArch string) bool {
+	return existsHelper(getArchMapping(), testedArch)
+}
+
 // UnmarshalJSON is a custom unmarshaling function to limit the set of allowed values
 // in case the input is JSON.
 func (arch Architecture) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
@@ -153,6 +178,15 @@ func getDistributionMapping() map[string]int {
 	return mapping
 }
 
+
+func ListDistributions() []string {
+	return listHelper(getDistributionMapping())
+}
+
+func DistributionExists(testedDistro string) bool {
+	return existsHelper(getDistributionMapping(), testedDistro)
+}
+
 func (distro Distribution) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
 	value, err := unmarshalHelper(data, " is not a valid JSON value", " is not a valid distribution", getDistributionMapping())
 	if err != nil {