diff --git a/src/borg/archiver/list_cmd.py b/src/borg/archiver/list_cmd.py
index 98abd18c3e..b7c1cfac4c 100644
--- a/src/borg/archiver/list_cmd.py
+++ b/src/borg/archiver/list_cmd.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 from ..archive import Archive
 from ..cache import Cache
 from ..constants import *  # NOQA
-from ..helpers import ItemFormatter, BaseFormatter, archivename_validator, PathSpec
+from ..helpers import ItemFormatter, BaseFormatter, archivename_validator, PathSpec, set_ec
 from ..helpers.argparsing import ArgumentParser
 from ..manifest import Manifest
 
@@ -19,6 +19,14 @@ class ListMixIn:
     @with_repository(compatibility=(Manifest.Operation.READ,))
     def do_list(self, args, repository, manifest):
         """List archive contents."""
+        if args.name is None:
+            print(
+                "Error: borg list requires an archive NAME.\n"
+                "To list the archives in a repository, use: borg repo-list",
+                file=sys.stderr,
+            )
+            set_ec(EXIT_ERROR)
+            return
         # omitting args.pattern_roots here, restricting to paths only by cli args.paths:
         matcher = build_matcher(args.patterns, args.paths)
         if args.format is not None:
@@ -126,7 +134,9 @@ def build_parser_list(self, subparsers, common_parser, mid_common_parser):
         subparser.add_argument(
             "--depth", metavar="N", dest="depth", type=int, help="only list files up to the specified directory depth"
         )
-        subparser.add_argument("name", metavar="NAME", type=archivename_validator, help="specify the archive name")
+        subparser.add_argument(
+            "name", metavar="NAME", nargs="?", default=None, type=archivename_validator, help="specify the archive name"
+        )
         subparser.add_argument(
             "paths", metavar="PATH", nargs="*", type=PathSpec, help="paths to list; patterns are supported"
         )
diff --git a/src/borg/testsuite/archiver/list_cmd_test.py b/src/borg/testsuite/archiver/list_cmd_test.py
index f9bb56e58a..3ce3796ed0 100644
--- a/src/borg/testsuite/archiver/list_cmd_test.py
+++ b/src/borg/testsuite/archiver/list_cmd_test.py
@@ -259,3 +259,11 @@ def test_fingerprint(archivers, request):
 
     # Even unmodified files should have different fingerprints because conditions_hash changed
     assert fingerprints1["input/file2"] != fingerprints5["input/file2"]
+
+
+def test_list_without_archive_name_shows_helpful_error(archivers, request):
+    archiver = request.getfixturevalue(archivers)
+    cmd(archiver, "repo-create", RK_ENCRYPTION)
+    output = cmd(archiver, "list", exit_code=2)
+    assert "borg list requires an archive NAME" in output
+    assert "borg repo-list" in output