diff --git a/Sources/ContainerCommands/System/SystemLogs.swift b/Sources/ContainerCommands/System/SystemLogs.swift
index b00008e9b..476010e2f 100644
--- a/Sources/ContainerCommands/System/SystemLogs.swift
+++ b/Sources/ContainerCommands/System/SystemLogs.swift
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ extension Application {
 
         @Option(
             name: .long,
-            help: "Fetch logs starting from the specified time period (minus the current time); supported formats: m, h, d"
+            help: "Fetch logs starting from the specified time period (minus the current time); supported formats: <number>[m|h|d] (defaults to seconds)"
         )
         var last: String = "5m"
 
@@ -44,6 +44,19 @@ extension Application {
 
         public init() {}
 
+        public func validate() throws {
+            if follow { return }
+            if let value = Int(last), value > 0 { return }
+            guard let unit = last.last, "mhd".contains(unit),
+                let value = Int(last.dropLast()), value > 0
+            else {
+                throw ContainerizationError(
+                    .invalidArgument,
+                    message: "invalid --last value '\(last)': expected a positive integer (seconds) or a value with suffix m, h, or d (e.g. 30, 5m, 1h, 2d)"
+                )
+            }
+        }
+
         public func run() async throws {
             let process = Process()
             let sigHandler = AsyncSignalHandler.create(notify: [SIGINT, SIGTERM])
diff --git a/Tests/CLITests/Subcommands/System/TestCLISystemLogs.swift b/Tests/CLITests/Subcommands/System/TestCLISystemLogs.swift
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1e61eded3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tests/CLITests/Subcommands/System/TestCLISystemLogs.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+// Copyright © 2026 Apple Inc. and the container project authors.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//   https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+//===----------------------------------------------------------------------===//
+
+import Foundation
+import Testing
+
+@Suite(.serialSuites)
+final class TestCLISystemLogs: CLITest {
+
+    @Test func testLogsRejectsInvalidLastUnit() throws {
+        let (_, _, error, status) = try run(arguments: ["system", "logs", "--last", "1x"])
+        #expect(status != 0, "Expected non-zero exit for invalid --last unit")
+        #expect(error.contains("invalid --last value"))
+    }
+
+    @Test func testLogsRejectsNonNumericLast() throws {
+        let (_, _, error, status) = try run(arguments: ["system", "logs", "--last", "abc"])
+        #expect(status != 0, "Expected non-zero exit for non-numeric --last")
+        #expect(error.contains("invalid --last value"))
+    }
+
+    @Test func testLogsRejectsZeroLast() throws {
+        let (_, _, error, status) = try run(arguments: ["system", "logs", "--last", "0m"])
+        #expect(status != 0, "Expected non-zero exit for zero --last value")
+        #expect(error.contains("invalid --last value"))
+    }
+}