diff --git a/apps/ogrinfo_lib.cpp b/apps/ogrinfo_lib.cpp
index a407116421a3..9aa19640505a 100644
--- a/apps/ogrinfo_lib.cpp
+++ b/apps/ogrinfo_lib.cpp
@@ -52,7 +52,6 @@ typedef enum
 struct GDALVectorInfoOptions
 {
     GDALVectorInfoFormat eFormat = FORMAT_TEXT;
-    std::string osFilename{};
     std::string osWHERE{};
     CPLStringList aosLayers{};
     std::unique_ptr<OGRGeometry> poSpatialFilter;
@@ -1843,9 +1842,7 @@ char *GDALVectorInfo(GDALDatasetH hDataset,
 
     CPLString osRet;
     CPLJSONObject oRoot;
-    const std::string osFilename(!psOptions->osFilename.empty()
-                                     ? psOptions->osFilename
-                                     : std::string(poDS->GetDescription()));
+    const std::string osFilename(poDS->GetDescription());
 
     const bool bJson = psOptions->eFormat == FORMAT_JSON;
     CPLJSONArray oLayerArray;
@@ -2430,8 +2427,13 @@ static std::unique_ptr<GDALArgumentParser> GDALVectorInfoOptionsGetParser(
         .help(_("Format/driver name(s) to try when opening the input file."));
 
     argParser->add_argument("filename")
-        .nargs(psOptionsForBinary ? 1 : 0)
-        .store_into(psOptions->osFilename)
+        .nargs(argparse::nargs_pattern::optional)
+        .action(
+            [psOptionsForBinary](const std::string &s)
+            {
+                if (psOptionsForBinary)
+                    psOptionsForBinary->osFilename = s;
+            })
         .help(_("The data source to open."));
 
     argParser->add_argument("layer")
@@ -2471,12 +2473,21 @@ std::string GDALVectorInfoGetParserUsage()
 /**
  * Allocates a GDALVectorInfoOptions struct.
  *
+ * Note that  when this function is used a library function, and not from the
+ * ogrinfo utility, a dataset name must be specified if any layer names(s) are
+ * specified (if no layer name is specific, passing a dataset name is not
+ * needed). That dataset name may be a dummy one, as the dataset taken into
+ * account is the hDS parameter passed to GDALVectorInfo().
+ * Similarly the -oo switch in a non-ogrinfo context will be ignored, and it
+ * is the responsibility of the user to apply them when opening the hDS parameter
+ * passed to GDALVectorInfo().
+ *
  * @param papszArgv NULL terminated list of options (potentially including
  * filename and open options too), or NULL. The accepted options are the ones of
  * the <a href="/programs/ogrinfo.html">ogrinfo</a> utility.
  * @param psOptionsForBinary (output) may be NULL (and should generally be
  * NULL), otherwise (ogrinfo_bin.cpp use case) must be allocated with
- *                           GDALVectorInfoOptionsForBinaryNew() prior to this
+ * GDALVectorInfoOptionsForBinaryNew() prior to this
  * function. Will be filled with potentially present filename, open options,
  * subdataset number...
  * @return pointer to the allocated GDALVectorInfoOptions struct. Must be freed
@@ -2594,7 +2605,6 @@ GDALVectorInfoOptionsNew(char **papszArgv,
         if (psOptionsForBinary)
         {
             psOptions->bStdoutOutput = true;
-            psOptionsForBinary->osFilename = psOptions->osFilename;
             psOptionsForBinary->osSQLStatement = psOptions->osSQLStatement;
         }
 
diff --git a/autotest/utilities/test_ogrinfo_lib.py b/autotest/utilities/test_ogrinfo_lib.py
index e46db5212df0..055e69ed2c40 100755
--- a/autotest/utilities/test_ogrinfo_lib.py
+++ b/autotest/utilities/test_ogrinfo_lib.py
@@ -609,3 +609,31 @@ def test_ogrinfo_lib_json_features_resolution():
 
     s = gdal.VectorInfo(content, dumpFeatures=True)
     assert "POINT Z (1.2 1.2 1.23)" in s
+
+
+###############################################################################
+# Test layers option
+
+
+def test_ogrinfo_lib_layers():
+
+    ds = gdal.GetDriverByName("Memory").Create("dummy", 0, 0, 0, gdal.GDT_Unknown)
+    ds.CreateLayer("foo")
+    ds.CreateLayer("bar")
+
+    j = gdal.VectorInfo(ds, format="json", layers=[])
+    assert len(j["layers"]) == 2
+    assert j["layers"][0]["name"] == "foo"
+    assert j["layers"][1]["name"] == "bar"
+
+    j = gdal.VectorInfo(ds, format="json", layers=["foo"])
+    assert len(j["layers"]) == 1
+    assert j["layers"][0]["name"] == "foo"
+
+    j = gdal.VectorInfo(ds, format="json", layers=["foo", "bar"])
+    assert len(j["layers"]) == 2
+    assert j["layers"][0]["name"] == "foo"
+    assert j["layers"][1]["name"] == "bar"
+
+    with pytest.raises(Exception, match="Couldn't fetch requested layer"):
+        gdal.VectorInfo(ds, format="json", layers=["invalid"])