diff --git a/cli.js b/cli.js
index 0d5aebc2..fd6736e5 100755
--- a/cli.js
+++ b/cli.js
@@ -81,6 +81,11 @@ function runCommand (loc) {
 
 function link (loc, db) {
   var dirs = args._.slice(1)
+  if (dirs.length === 1 && dirs[0].match(/^dat:/)) {
+    console.error('Do you mean `dat ' + dirs[0] + '` ?')
+    process.exit(1)
+  }
+
   if (dirs.length === 0) dirs = loc
 
   var stats = {}
diff --git a/tests/link.js b/tests/link.js
index 8aca0a33..230c8ef8 100644
--- a/tests/link.js
+++ b/tests/link.js
@@ -36,6 +36,16 @@ test('link with no args defaults to cwd', function (t) {
   st.end()
 })
 
+test('link with dat uri suggests correct usage', function (t) {
+  var st = spawn(t, dat + ' link dat://deadbeefcafe')
+  st.stderr.match(function (output) {
+    t.equal(output, 'Do you mean `dat dat://deadbeefcafe` ?\n')
+    st.kill()
+    return true
+  })
+  st.end()
+})
+
 test('connects if link process starts second', function (t) {
   var link
   var tmpdir = tmp + '/dat-link-restart-test'