diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_cat.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_cat.go
index 693c26790..d3e98b2ff 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/cmd_cat.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_cat.go
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ import (
 	"github.com/restic/restic/internal/restic"
 )
 
+var catAllowedCmds = []string{"config", "index", "snapshot", "key", "masterkey", "lock", "pack", "blob", "tree"}
+
 var cmdCat = &cobra.Command{
 	Use:   "cat [flags] [masterkey|config|pack ID|blob ID|snapshot ID|index ID|key ID|lock ID|tree snapshot:subfolder]",
 	Short: "Print internal objects to stdout",
@@ -30,6 +32,7 @@ Exit status is 11 if the repository is already locked.
 	RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return runCat(cmd.Context(), globalOptions, args)
 	},
+	ValidArgs: catAllowedCmds,
 }
 
 func init() {
@@ -37,21 +40,19 @@ func init() {
 }
 
 func validateCatArgs(args []string) error {
-	var allowedCmds = []string{"config", "index", "snapshot", "key", "masterkey", "lock", "pack", "blob", "tree"}
-
 	if len(args) < 1 {
 		return errors.Fatal("type not specified")
 	}
 
 	validType := false
-	for _, v := range allowedCmds {
+	for _, v := range catAllowedCmds {
 		if v == args[0] {
 			validType = true
 			break
 		}
 	}
 	if !validType {
-		return errors.Fatalf("invalid type %q, must be one of [%s]", args[0], strings.Join(allowedCmds, "|"))
+		return errors.Fatalf("invalid type %q, must be one of [%s]", args[0], strings.Join(catAllowedCmds, "|"))
 	}
 
 	if args[0] != "masterkey" && args[0] != "config" && len(args) != 2 {