diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_cat.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_cat.go
index 7c4373812..97789d271 100644
--- a/cmd/restic/cmd_cat.go
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_cat.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package main
 import (
 	"context"
 	"encoding/json"
+	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
@@ -33,9 +34,34 @@ func init() {
 	cmdRoot.AddCommand(cmdCat)
 }
 
+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 {
+		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, "|"))
+	}
+
+	if args[0] != "masterkey" && args[0] != "config" && len(args) != 2 {
+		return errors.Fatal("ID not specified")
+	}
+
+	return nil
+}
+
 func runCat(ctx context.Context, gopts GlobalOptions, args []string) error {
-	if len(args) < 1 || (args[0] != "masterkey" && args[0] != "config" && len(args) != 2) {
-		return errors.Fatal("type or ID not specified")
+	if err := validateCatArgs(args); err != nil {
+		return err
 	}
 
 	repo, err := OpenRepository(ctx, gopts)
diff --git a/cmd/restic/cmd_cat_test.go b/cmd/restic/cmd_cat_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8c72a16a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/restic/cmd_cat_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	"strings"
+	"testing"
+
+	rtest "github.com/restic/restic/internal/test"
+)
+
+func TestCatArgsValidation(t *testing.T) {
+	for _, test := range []struct {
+		args []string
+		err  string
+	}{
+		{[]string{}, "Fatal: type not specified"},
+		{[]string{"masterkey"}, ""},
+		{[]string{"invalid"}, `Fatal: invalid type "invalid"`},
+		{[]string{"snapshot"}, "Fatal: ID not specified"},
+		{[]string{"snapshot", "12345678"}, ""},
+	} {
+		t.Run("", func(t *testing.T) {
+			err := validateCatArgs(test.args)
+			if test.err == "" {
+				rtest.Assert(t, err == nil, "unexpected error %q", err)
+			} else {
+				rtest.Assert(t, strings.Contains(err.Error(), test.err), "unexpected error expected %q to contain %q", err, test.err)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}