diff --git a/airline-core/src/main/java/com/github/rvesse/airline/model/CommandMetadata.java b/airline-core/src/main/java/com/github/rvesse/airline/model/CommandMetadata.java
index a18aedb93..943d763da 100644
--- a/airline-core/src/main/java/com/github/rvesse/airline/model/CommandMetadata.java
+++ b/airline-core/src/main/java/com/github/rvesse/airline/model/CommandMetadata.java
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public CommandMetadata(String name,
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Command name may not be null/empty");
         if (StringUtils.containsWhitespace(name))
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Command name may not contain whitespace");
-        
+
         this.name = name;
         this.description = description;
         this.hidden = hidden;
@@ -73,6 +73,27 @@ public CommandMetadata(String name,
         this.positionalArgs = positionalArguments;
         this.arguments = arguments;
 
+        // Check that we don't have required positional/non-positional arguments
+        // after optional positional arguments
+        boolean posArgsRequired = false;
+        for (int i = 0; i < this.positionalArgs.size(); i++) {
+            if (i == 0) {
+                posArgsRequired = this.positionalArgs.get(i).isRequired();
+            } else if (!posArgsRequired && this.positionalArgs.get(i).isRequired()) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format(
+                        "Positional argument %d (%s) is declared as @Required but one/more preceeding positional arguments are optional",
+                        i, this.positionalArgs.get(i).getTitle()));
+            } else {
+                posArgsRequired = this.positionalArgs.get(i).isRequired();
+            }
+        }
+        if (this.positionalArgs.size() > 0 && !posArgsRequired) {
+            if (this.arguments.isRequired()) {
+                throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+                        "Non-positional arguments are declared as required but one/more preceding positional arguments are optional");
+            }
+        }
+
         if (this.defaultOption != null && this.arguments != null) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException("Command cannot declare both @Arguments and @DefaultOption");
         }
@@ -129,7 +150,7 @@ public List<OptionMetadata> getCommandOptions() {
     public OptionMetadata getDefaultOption() {
         return defaultOption;
     }
-    
+
     public List<ArgumentMetadata> getPositionalArguments() {
         return positionalArgs;
     }
@@ -153,6 +174,7 @@ public List<String> getGroupNames() {
     public List<Group> getGroups() {
         return groups;
     }
+
     @Override
     public String toString() {
         final StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
@@ -170,15 +192,17 @@ public String toString() {
         sb.append('}');
         return sb.toString();
     }
-    
+
     @Override
     public boolean equals(Object other) {
-        if (this == other) return true;
-        
-        if (!(other instanceof CommandMetadata)) return false;
-        
+        if (this == other)
+            return true;
+
+        if (!(other instanceof CommandMetadata))
+            return false;
+
         CommandMetadata cmd = (CommandMetadata) other;
-        
+
         // TODO This should ideally be more robust
         return StringUtils.equals(this.name, cmd.name) && this.type.equals(cmd.type);
     }
diff --git a/airline-core/src/main/java/com/github/rvesse/airline/model/MetadataLoader.java b/airline-core/src/main/java/com/github/rvesse/airline/model/MetadataLoader.java
index 0854cf6b4..ee4c53f0d 100644
--- a/airline-core/src/main/java/com/github/rvesse/airline/model/MetadataLoader.java
+++ b/airline-core/src/main/java/com/github/rvesse/airline/model/MetadataLoader.java
@@ -733,7 +733,7 @@ public static void loadInjectionMetadata(Class<?> type, InjectionMetadata inject
                     throw new IllegalArgumentException(String.format(
                             "Field %s annotated with @DefaultOption must also have an @Option annotation", field));
                 }
-                
+
                 // Process positional arguments annotations
                 PositionalArgument positionalArgumentAnnotation = field.getAnnotation(PositionalArgument.class);
                 if (field.isAnnotationPresent(PositionalArgument.class)) {
@@ -741,11 +741,14 @@ public static void loadInjectionMetadata(Class<?> type, InjectionMetadata inject
                     if (StringUtils.isBlank(title)) {
                         title = field.getName();
                     }
-                    
-                    TypeConverterProvider provider = ParserUtil.createInstance(positionalArgumentAnnotation.typeConverterProvider());
-                    
-                    List<ArgumentsRestriction> restrictions = collectArgumentRestrictions(field);
-                    
+
+                    TypeConverterProvider provider = ParserUtil
+                            .createInstance(positionalArgumentAnnotation.typeConverterProvider());
+
+                    // Collect restrictions, note that @Partials/@Partial does
+                    // not make sense for positional arguments
+                    List<ArgumentsRestriction> restrictions = collectArgumentRestrictions(field, false);
+
                     //@formatter:off
                     injectionMetadata.positionalArgs.add(new ArgumentMetadata(positionalArgumentAnnotation.position(), 
                                                                               title, 
@@ -779,7 +782,7 @@ public static void loadInjectionMetadata(Class<?> type, InjectionMetadata inject
                     TypeConverterProvider provider = ParserUtil
                             .createInstance(argumentsAnnotation.typeConverterProvider());
 
-                    List<ArgumentsRestriction> restrictions = collectArgumentRestrictions(field);
+                    List<ArgumentsRestriction> restrictions = collectArgumentRestrictions(field, true);
 
                     //@formatter:off
                     injectionMetadata.arguments.add(new ArgumentsMetadata(titles, 
@@ -793,16 +796,16 @@ public static void loadInjectionMetadata(Class<?> type, InjectionMetadata inject
         }
     }
 
-    public static List<ArgumentsRestriction> collectArgumentRestrictions(Field field) {
-        Map<Class<? extends Annotation>, Set<Integer>> partials = loadPartials(field);
+    private static List<ArgumentsRestriction> collectArgumentRestrictions(Field field, boolean allowPartials) {
+        Map<Class<? extends Annotation>, Set<Integer>> partials = allowPartials ? loadPartials(field)
+                : Collections.<Class<? extends Annotation>, Set<Integer>> emptyMap();
         List<ArgumentsRestriction> restrictions = new ArrayList<>();
         for (Class<? extends Annotation> annotationClass : RestrictionRegistry
                 .getArgumentsRestrictionAnnotationClasses()) {
             Annotation annotation = field.getAnnotation(annotationClass);
             if (annotation == null)
                 continue;
-            ArgumentsRestriction restriction = RestrictionRegistry.getArgumentsRestriction(annotationClass,
-                    annotation);
+            ArgumentsRestriction restriction = RestrictionRegistry.getArgumentsRestriction(annotationClass, annotation);
             if (restriction != null) {
                 // Adjust for partial if necessary
                 if (partials.containsKey(annotationClass))
@@ -962,7 +965,7 @@ private static List<ArgumentMetadata> overridePositionalArgumentSet(List<Argumen
                         i, StringUtils.join(argsIndex.keySet(), ", ")));
             }
         }
-        
+
         return ListUtils.unmodifiableList(posArgs);
     }
 
@@ -1206,8 +1209,6 @@ private static class InjectionMetadata {
         private List<ArgumentMetadata> positionalArgs = new ArrayList<>();
         private List<ArgumentsMetadata> arguments = new ArrayList<>();
         private List<Accessor> metadataInjections = new ArrayList<>();
-        
-        
 
         private void compact() {
             globalOptions = overrideOptionSet(globalOptions);