diff --git a/src/alire/alire_early_elaboration.adb b/src/alire/alire_early_elaboration.adb
index da1231f6e..ae97124d0 100644
--- a/src/alire/alire_early_elaboration.adb
+++ b/src/alire/alire_early_elaboration.adb
@@ -71,6 +71,17 @@ package body Alire_Early_Elaboration is
 
       procedure Check_Switches is
 
+         -------------------------
+         -- Config_Switch_Error --
+         -------------------------
+
+         procedure Config_Switch_Error (Switch : String) is
+         begin
+            GNAT.IO.Put_Line
+               ("ERROR: Switch " & Switch & " requires argument (global).");
+            Early_Error ("try ""alr --help"" for more information.");
+         end Config_Switch_Error;
+
          ---------------------
          -- Set_Config_Path --
          ---------------------
@@ -78,7 +89,9 @@ package body Alire_Early_Elaboration is
          procedure Set_Config_Path (Path : String) is
             package Adirs renames Ada.Directories;
          begin
-            if not Adirs.Exists (Path) then
+            if Path = "" then
+               Config_Switch_Error ("--config");
+            elsif not Adirs.Exists (Path) then
                Early_Error
                  ("Invalid non-existing configuration path: " & Path);
             elsif Adirs.Kind (Path) not in Adirs.Directory then
@@ -107,11 +120,13 @@ package body Alire_Early_Elaboration is
             end if;
          end Check_Long_Switch;
 
+         Option : Character;
       begin
          loop
             --  We use the simpler Getopt form to avoid built-in help and other
             --  shenanigans.
-            case Getopt ("* d? --debug? q v c= --config=") is
+            Option := Getopt ("* d? --debug? q v c= --config=");
+            case Option is
                when ASCII.NUL =>
                   exit;
                when '*' =>
@@ -148,6 +163,10 @@ package body Alire_Early_Elaboration is
             end case;
          end loop;
       exception
+         when GNAT.Command_Line.Invalid_Parameter =>
+            if Option = 'c' then
+               Config_Switch_Error ("-c");
+            end if;
          when Exit_From_Command_Line =>
             --  Something unexpected happened but it will be properly dealt
             --  with later on, in the regular command-line parser.
diff --git a/src/alr/alr-commands-install.adb b/src/alr/alr-commands-install.adb
index 6b84f4693..974885a6e 100644
--- a/src/alr/alr-commands-install.adb
+++ b/src/alr/alr-commands-install.adb
@@ -122,8 +122,8 @@ package body Alr.Commands.Install is
          & "templates, should be able to coexist in a same installation prefix"
          & " without issue.")
        .New_Line
-       .Append ("You can use the --force to reinstall already installed "
-         & "releases.")
+       .Append ("You can use the --force global option to reinstall "
+         & "already installed releases.")
       );
 
    --------------------
diff --git a/testsuite/tests/config/missing-config-path/test.py b/testsuite/tests/config/missing-config-path/test.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0047db813
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testsuite/tests/config/missing-config-path/test.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+"""
+Verify that errors are properly handled when no config path is given
+"""
+
+from drivers.alr import run_alr
+from drivers.asserts import assert_match
+
+import re
+
+p = run_alr("--config", complain_on_error=False)
+assert p.status != 0, "command should fail"
+assert_match("ERROR: Switch --config requires argument.*", p.out, flags=re.S)
+
+p = run_alr("-c", complain_on_error=False)
+assert p.status != 0, "command should fail"
+assert_match("ERROR: Switch -c requires argument.*", p.out, flags=re.S)
+
+print('SUCCESS')
diff --git a/testsuite/tests/config/missing-config-path/test.yaml b/testsuite/tests/config/missing-config-path/test.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..872fc1274
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testsuite/tests/config/missing-config-path/test.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+driver: python-script
+indexes:
+    basic_index: {}