diff --git a/cmd/gaia/init/init.go b/cmd/gaia/init/init.go
index bb56de1bd6..1f12da6bde 100644
--- a/cmd/gaia/init/init.go
+++ b/cmd/gaia/init/init.go
@@ -89,11 +89,11 @@ func InitCmd(ctx *server.Context, cdc *codec.Codec, appInit server.AppInit) *cob
 		},
 	}
 
-	cmd.MarkFlagRequired(flagMoniker)
 	cmd.Flags().String(cli.HomeFlag, app.DefaultNodeHome, "node's home directory")
 	cmd.Flags().BoolP(flagOverwrite, "o", false, "overwrite the genesis.json file")
 	cmd.Flags().String(client.FlagChainID, "", "genesis file chain-id, if left blank will be randomly created")
 	cmd.Flags().String(flagMoniker, "", "set the validator's moniker")
+	cmd.MarkFlagRequired(flagMoniker)
 
 	return cmd
 }