diff --git a/hpvm/tools/py-approxhpvm/main.py.in b/hpvm/tools/py-approxhpvm/main.py.in
index 3446b07c1e8e19a9605aef1dea89f53ee2f4e93a..4b604d172a1515f6a11dccd82402a53f16410300 100644
--- a/hpvm/tools/py-approxhpvm/main.py.in
+++ b/hpvm/tools/py-approxhpvm/main.py.in
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ def parse_args():
         "-t",
         "--codegen-target",
         type=str,
+        required=True,
         choices=["tensor", "cudnn"],
         help="Backend to use",
     )