diff --git a/crates/oxc_cli/src/lint/mod.rs b/crates/oxc_cli/src/lint/mod.rs
index ca9a85acd..54388fdc9 100644
--- a/crates/oxc_cli/src/lint/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/oxc_cli/src/lint/mod.rs
@@ -33,6 +33,10 @@ impl Runner for LintRunner {
             misc_options,
         } = self.options;
 
+        if paths.is_empty() {
+            return CliRunResult::InvalidOptions { message: "No paths provided.".to_string() };
+        }
+
         let now = std::time::Instant::now();
 
         let paths = Walk::new(&paths, &ignore_options).paths();
diff --git a/crates/oxc_cli/src/result.rs b/crates/oxc_cli/src/result.rs
index 355030c2f..cd90e14ee 100644
--- a/crates/oxc_cli/src/result.rs
+++ b/crates/oxc_cli/src/result.rs
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ use std::{
 #[derive(Debug)]
 pub enum CliRunResult {
     None,
+    InvalidOptions { message: String },
     PathNotFound { paths: Vec<PathBuf> },
     LintResult(LintResult),
     TypeCheckResult { duration: Duration, number_of_diagnostics: usize },
@@ -26,6 +27,10 @@ impl Termination for CliRunResult {
     fn report(self) -> ExitCode {
         match self {
             Self::None => ExitCode::from(0),
+            Self::InvalidOptions { message } => {
+                println!("Invalid Options: {message}");
+                ExitCode::from(1)
+            }
             Self::PathNotFound { paths } => {
                 println!("Path {paths:?} does not exist.");
                 ExitCode::from(1)
diff --git a/crates/oxc_cli/src/walk.rs b/crates/oxc_cli/src/walk.rs
index 0271b6d83..f8ee86d5a 100644
--- a/crates/oxc_cli/src/walk.rs
+++ b/crates/oxc_cli/src/walk.rs
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ impl ignore::ParallelVisitor for WalkCollector {
 impl Walk {
     /// # Panics
     pub fn new(paths: &[PathBuf], options: &IgnoreOptions) -> Self {
+        assert!(!paths.is_empty(), "At least one path must be provided to Walk::new");
+
         let paths = paths
             .iter()
             .map(|p| p.canonicalize().unwrap_or_else(|_| p.clone()))