diff --git a/osc_placement/resources/allocation_candidate.py b/osc_placement/resources/allocation_candidate.py
index b4fd755..afe19a2 100644
--- a/osc_placement/resources/allocation_candidate.py
+++ b/osc_placement/resources/allocation_candidate.py
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@ class ListAllocationCandidate(command.Lister, version.CheckerMixin):
         parser.add_argument(
             '--resource',
             metavar='<resource_class>=<value>',
+            dest='resources',
             action='append',
             default=[],
             help='String indicating an amount of resource of a specified '
@@ -90,14 +91,20 @@ class ListAllocationCandidate(command.Lister, version.CheckerMixin):
 
     @version.check(version.ge('1.10'))
     def take_action(self, parsed_args):
-        if not parsed_args.resource:
+        if not parsed_args.resources:
             raise exceptions.CommandError(
                 'At least one --resource must be specified.')
 
+        for resource in parsed_args.resources:
+            if not len(resource.split('=')) == 2:
+                raise exceptions.CommandError(
+                    'Arguments to --resource must be of form '
+                    '<resource_class>=<value>')
+
         http = self.app.client_manager.placement
 
         params = {'resources': ','.join(
-            resource.replace('=', ':') for resource in parsed_args.resource)}
+            resource.replace('=', ':') for resource in parsed_args.resources)}
         if 'limit' in parsed_args and parsed_args.limit:
             # Fail if --limit but not high enough microversion.
             self.check_version(version.ge('1.16'))
diff --git a/osc_placement/tests/functional/test_allocation_candidate.py b/osc_placement/tests/functional/test_allocation_candidate.py
index ce64da2..c913846 100644
--- a/osc_placement/tests/functional/test_allocation_candidate.py
+++ b/osc_placement/tests/functional/test_allocation_candidate.py
@@ -27,6 +27,12 @@ class TestAllocationCandidate(base.BaseTestCase):
             'At least one --resource must be specified',
             self.openstack, 'allocation candidate list')
 
+    def test_list_non_key_value_resource_specified_error(self):
+        self.assertCommandFailed(
+            'Arguments to --resource must be of form '
+            '<resource_class>=<value>',
+            self.openstack, 'allocation candidate list --resource VCPU')
+
     def test_list_empty(self):
         self.assertEqual([], self.allocation_candidate_list(
             resources=['MEMORY_MB=999999999']))