diff --git a/pkgs/additional/sane-scripts/src/sane-bt-search b/pkgs/additional/sane-scripts/src/sane-bt-search
index 2946aac2..0c6196ef 100755
--- a/pkgs/additional/sane-scripts/src/sane-bt-search
+++ b/pkgs/additional/sane-scripts/src/sane-bt-search
@@ -218,6 +218,7 @@ def main(args: list[str]):
     help = options.pop("help")
     json = options.pop("json")
     query = options.pop("query")
+    assert options.get("top") is not True, "use `--top=N`, not `--top N`"
     top = int(options.pop("top"))
     verbose = options.pop("verbose")
     manga = options.pop("manga")