diff --git a/compute_create b/compute_create
index 644b75f2107121b32d8e00b143322aef11beb89a..e7e3c6dba6ecde72bc4f898a6e79e3ae521ec24a 100755
--- a/compute_create
+++ b/compute_create
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@
 #
 # node is constrained to boot on the internal "compute" network
 
+if [[ "$1" == "" ]]; then
+  echo "Please provide the name for the new compute node as the only argument"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 nodename="$1"
 
 # Ensure that the $HOME/iso directory exists