diff --git a/qemu-img.c b/qemu-img.c
index d9c2c12fa0..ed5ba91117 100644
--- a/qemu-img.c
+++ b/qemu-img.c
@@ -1240,7 +1240,7 @@ static int img_rebase(int argc, char **argv)
         }
     }
 
-    if ((optind >= argc) || !out_baseimg) {
+    if ((optind >= argc) || (!unsafe && !out_baseimg)) {
         help();
     }
     filename = argv[optind++];