diff --git a/src/triton_cli/parser.py b/src/triton_cli/parser.py
index 077a1ce..e1d1cd7 100755
--- a/src/triton_cli/parser.py
+++ b/src/triton_cli/parser.py
@@ -444,9 +444,10 @@ def parse_args(argv=None):
 
     argv_ = argv if argv is not None else sys.argv[1:]
     # Add special argparse handling for passthrough to genai-perf CLI
-    if argv_[0] == "profile":
+    if len(argv_) > 1 and argv_[0] == "profile":
         args, unknown_args = parser.parse_known_args(argv_)
         args = add_unknown_args_to_args(args, unknown_args)
     else:
         args = parser.parse_args(argv_)
+
     return args
diff --git a/tests/test_cli.py b/tests/test_cli.py
index 2883e70..78abc37 100644
--- a/tests/test_cli.py
+++ b/tests/test_cli.py
@@ -49,6 +49,17 @@
 
 
 class TestRepo:
+    def test_noargs(self):
+        # Test that running 'triton' with no args will fail with a parsing error
+        # NOTE: pytest needs to be run with `--capture=sys` to read the output,
+        #       so just assert the error code and exception type for now.
+        args = []
+        with pytest.raises(SystemExit) as excinfo:
+            TritonCommands._run_and_capture_stdout(args)
+
+        # argparse returns code 2 for error / missing arguments
+        assert excinfo.value.code == 2
+
     @pytest.mark.parametrize("repo", TEST_REPOS)
     def test_clear(self, repo):
         TritonCommands._clear(repo)