diff --git a/src/uu/sync/src/sync.rs b/src/uu/sync/src/sync.rs
index 5bd21bb1b..4cf5eafb4 100644
--- a/src/uu/sync/src/sync.rs
+++ b/src/uu/sync/src/sync.rs
@@ -169,6 +169,10 @@ pub fn uumain(args: impl uucore::Args) -> UResult<()> {
         .map(|v| v.map(ToString::to_string).collect())
         .unwrap_or_default();
 
+    if matches.is_present(options::DATA) && files.is_empty() {
+        return Err(USimpleError::new(1, "--data needs at least one argument"));
+    }
+
     for f in &files {
         if !Path::new(&f).exists() {
             return Err(USimpleError::new(
diff --git a/tests/by-util/test_sync.rs b/tests/by-util/test_sync.rs
index 97259cdda..e57690e49 100644
--- a/tests/by-util/test_sync.rs
+++ b/tests/by-util/test_sync.rs
@@ -44,3 +44,11 @@ fn test_sync_no_existing_files() {
         .fails()
         .stderr_contains("cannot stat");
 }
+
+#[test]
+fn test_sync_data_but_not_file() {
+    new_ucmd!()
+        .arg("--data")
+        .fails()
+        .stderr_contains("sync: --data needs at least one argument");
+}