diff --git a/pulsar-testclient/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/testclient/PerformanceConsumer.java b/pulsar-testclient/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/testclient/PerformanceConsumer.java
index 28c3a68e70dde..e52bcfd1e3aee 100644
--- a/pulsar-testclient/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/testclient/PerformanceConsumer.java
+++ b/pulsar-testclient/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/testclient/PerformanceConsumer.java
@@ -222,6 +222,15 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
             arguments.authPluginClassName = arguments.deprecatedAuthPluginClassName;
         }
 
+        for (String arg : arguments.topic) {
+            if (arg.startsWith("-")) {
+                System.out.printf("invalid option: '%s'\nTo use a topic with the name '%s', "
+                        + "please use a fully qualified topic name\n", arg, arg);
+                jc.usage();
+                PerfClientUtils.exit(-1);
+            }
+        }
+
         if (arguments.topic != null && arguments.topic.size() != arguments.numTopics) {
             // keep compatibility with the previous version
             if (arguments.topic.size() == 1) {
diff --git a/pulsar-testclient/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/testclient/PerformanceProducer.java b/pulsar-testclient/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/testclient/PerformanceProducer.java
index 3ff78909a687f..6600e3083e0ea 100644
--- a/pulsar-testclient/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/testclient/PerformanceProducer.java
+++ b/pulsar-testclient/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/testclient/PerformanceProducer.java
@@ -292,6 +292,15 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
             arguments.authPluginClassName = arguments.deprecatedAuthPluginClassName;
         }
 
+        for (String arg : arguments.topics) {
+            if (arg.startsWith("-")) {
+                System.out.printf("invalid option: '%s'\nTo use a topic with the name '%s', "
+                        + "please use a fully qualified topic name\n", arg, arg);
+                jc.usage();
+                PerfClientUtils.exit(-1);
+            }
+        }
+
         if (arguments.topics != null && arguments.topics.size() != arguments.numTopics) {
             // keep compatibility with the previous version
             if (arguments.topics.size() == 1) {
diff --git a/pulsar-testclient/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/testclient/PerformanceReader.java b/pulsar-testclient/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/testclient/PerformanceReader.java
index cc2d6315eeb1a..6adb0a9ca448e 100644
--- a/pulsar-testclient/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/testclient/PerformanceReader.java
+++ b/pulsar-testclient/src/main/java/org/apache/pulsar/testclient/PerformanceReader.java
@@ -122,6 +122,15 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
             PerfClientUtils.exit(-1);
         }
 
+        for (String arg : arguments.topic) {
+            if (arg.startsWith("-")) {
+                System.out.printf("invalid option: '%s'\nTo use a topic with the name '%s', "
+                        + "please use a fully qualified topic name\n", arg, arg);
+                jc.usage();
+                PerfClientUtils.exit(-1);
+            }
+        }
+
         if (arguments.topic != null && arguments.topic.size() != arguments.numTopics) {
             // keep compatibility with the previous version
             if (arguments.topic.size() == 1) {