diff --git a/src/commands/schema/schema.mjs b/src/commands/schema/schema.mjs
index 2ff8be98..e2d22dda 100644
--- a/src/commands/schema/schema.mjs
+++ b/src/commands/schema/schema.mjs
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 //@ts-check
 
+import { validateDatabaseOrSecret } from "../../lib/command-helpers.mjs";
 import abandonCommand from "./abandon.mjs";
 import commitCommand from "./commit.mjs";
 import diffCommand from "./diff.mjs";
@@ -25,6 +26,7 @@ function buildSchema(yargs) {
     .command(pushCommand)
     .command(pullCommand)
     .command(statusCommand)
+    .check(validateDatabaseOrSecret)
     .demandCommand();
 }
 
diff --git a/src/commands/schema/status.mjs b/src/commands/schema/status.mjs
index 48943a29..dc7822e5 100644
--- a/src/commands/schema/status.mjs
+++ b/src/commands/schema/status.mjs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ import {
 } from "../../lib/command-helpers.mjs";
 import { getSecret } from "../../lib/fauna-client.mjs";
 import { reformatFSL } from "../../lib/schema.mjs";
+import { localSchemaOptions } from "./schema.mjs";
 
 async function doStatus(argv) {
   const logger = container.resolve("logger");
@@ -32,6 +33,7 @@ async function doStatus(argv) {
     staged: "true",
     version: statusResponse.version,
   });
+
   const validationResponse = await makeFaunaRequest({
     argv,
     path: "/schema/1/validate",
@@ -64,16 +66,18 @@ async function doStatus(argv) {
 }
 
 function buildStatusCommand(yargs) {
-  return yargsWithCommonQueryOptions(yargs).example([
-    [
-      "$0 schema status --database us/example",
-      "Get the staged schema status for the 'us/example' database.",
-    ],
-    [
-      "$0 schema status --secret my-secret",
-      "Get the staged schema status for the database scoped to a secret.",
-    ],
-  ]);
+  return yargsWithCommonQueryOptions(yargs)
+    .options(localSchemaOptions)
+    .example([
+      [
+        "$0 schema status --database us/example",
+        "Get the staged schema status for the 'us/example' database.",
+      ],
+      [
+        "$0 schema status --secret my-secret",
+        "Get the staged schema status for the database scoped to a secret.",
+      ],
+    ]);
 }
 
 export default {
diff --git a/test/schema/schema.mjs b/test/schema/schema.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..92dc8d48
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/schema/schema.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+//@ts-check
+
+import { expect } from "chai";
+import chalk from "chalk";
+
+import { builtYargs, run } from "../../src/cli.mjs";
+import { setupTestContainer as setupContainer } from "../../src/config/setup-test-container.mjs";
+
+describe("schema", function () {
+  let container, logger;
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    container = setupContainer();
+    logger = container.resolve("logger");
+  });
+
+  [
+    { command: "schema status" },
+    { command: "schema push" },
+    { command: "schema abandon" },
+    { command: "schema diff" },
+    { command: "schema pull" },
+    { command: "schema commit" },
+  ].forEach(({ command }) => {
+    it(`requires a database or secret to call: ${command}`, async function () {
+      try {
+        await run(command, container);
+      } catch (e) {}
+
+      expect(logger.stderr).to.have.been.calledWith(
+        `${chalk.reset(await builtYargs.getHelp())}\n\n${chalk.red("No database or secret specified. Please use either --database, --secret, or --local to connect to your desired Fauna database.")}`,
+      );
+      expect(container.resolve("parseYargs")).to.have.been.calledOnce;
+    });
+  });
+});