diff --git a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/upgrade.rb b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/upgrade.rb
index 80a6a019a7..cf17914f10 100644
--- a/Library/Homebrew/cmd/upgrade.rb
+++ b/Library/Homebrew/cmd/upgrade.rb
@@ -120,6 +120,10 @@ module Homebrew
 
       sig { override.void }
       def run
+        if args.build_from_source? && args.named.empty?
+          raise ArgumentError, "--build-from-source requires at least one formula"
+        end
+
         formulae, casks = args.named.to_resolved_formulae_to_casks
         # If one or more formulae are specified, but no casks were
         # specified, we want to make note of that so we don't