diff --git a/sys/cam/ctl/ctl_frontend_ioctl.c b/sys/cam/ctl/ctl_frontend_ioctl.c
index 7fc8deac82b..3449154afb3 100644
--- a/sys/cam/ctl/ctl_frontend_ioctl.c
+++ b/sys/cam/ctl/ctl_frontend_ioctl.c
@@ -267,7 +267,7 @@ cfi_ioctl_port_remove(struct ctl_req *req)
 	if (port_id == -1) {
 		req->status = CTL_LUN_ERROR;
 		snprintf(req->error_str, sizeof(req->error_str),
-		    "port_id not provided");
+		    "Missing required argument: port_id");
 		return;
 	}
 
diff --git a/usr.sbin/ctladm/ctladm.8 b/usr.sbin/ctladm/ctladm.8
index 5c6e4aa04c7..72f0162eed5 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/ctladm/ctladm.8
+++ b/usr.sbin/ctladm/ctladm.8
@@ -673,8 +673,7 @@ and
 Specify the frontend port number.
 The port numbers can be found in the frontend port list.
 .It Fl r
-Remove port specified with
-.Pq Fl p Ar targ_port .
+Remove a port.
 .It Fl t Ar fe_type
 Specify the frontend type used by the
 .Pq Fl o ,
diff --git a/usr.sbin/ctladm/ctladm.c b/usr.sbin/ctladm/ctladm.c
index 14951797ddf..46b7b88547d 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/ctladm/ctladm.c
+++ b/usr.sbin/ctladm/ctladm.c
@@ -580,11 +580,6 @@ cctl_port(int fd, int argc, char **argv, char *combinedopt)
 		break;
 	}
 	case CCTL_PORT_MODE_REMOVE:
-		if (targ_port == -1) {
-			warnx("%s: -r requires -p", __func__);
-			retval = 1;
-			goto bailout;
-		}
 		/* FALLTHROUGH */
 	case CCTL_PORT_MODE_CREATE: {
 		bzero(&req, sizeof(req));
@@ -594,8 +589,9 @@ cctl_port(int fd, int argc, char **argv, char *combinedopt)
 
 		if (port_mode == CCTL_PORT_MODE_REMOVE) {
 			req.reqtype = CTL_REQ_REMOVE;
-			nvlist_add_stringf(option_list, "port_id", "%d",
-			    targ_port);
+			if (targ_port != -1)
+				nvlist_add_stringf(option_list, "port_id", "%d",
+				    targ_port);
 		} else
 			req.reqtype = CTL_REQ_CREATE;
 
diff --git a/usr.sbin/ctladm/tests/port.sh b/usr.sbin/ctladm/tests/port.sh
index 1f2c9aaed5c..139e1a7d29a 100644
--- a/usr.sbin/ctladm/tests/port.sh
+++ b/usr.sbin/ctladm/tests/port.sh
@@ -37,8 +37,6 @@ cleanup() {
 			;;
 		"iscsi")
 			TARGET=`awk '/target:/ {print $2}' port-create.txt`
-			# PORTNUM is ignored, but must be set
-			PORTNUM=9999
 			ctladm port -r -d $driver -p "$PORTNUM" -O cfiscsi_portal_group_tag=$PGTAG -O cfiscsi_target=$TARGET
 			;;
 		esac
@@ -68,6 +66,25 @@ create_ioctl_cleanup()
 	cleanup ioctl
 }
 
+atf_test_case remove_ioctl_without_required_args cleanup
+remove_ioctl_without_required_args_head()
+{
+	atf_set "descr" "ctladm will gracefully fail to remove an ioctl target if required arguments are missing"
+	atf_set "require.user" "root"
+}
+remove_ioctl_without_required_args_body()
+{
+	skip_if_ctld
+
+	atf_check -o save:port-create.txt ctladm port -c -d "ioctl"
+	atf_check egrep -q "Port created successfully" port-create.txt
+	atf_check -s exit:1 -e match:"Missing required argument: port_id" ctladm port -r -d "ioctl"
+}
+remove_ioctl_without_required_args_cleanup()
+{
+	cleanup ioctl
+}
+
 atf_test_case create_iscsi cleanup
 create_iscsi_head()
 {
@@ -246,7 +263,7 @@ remove_iscsi_body()
 	atf_check -o save:port-create.txt ctladm port -c -d "iscsi" -O cfiscsi_portal_group_tag=$PGTAG -O cfiscsi_target="$TARGET"
 	portnum=`awk '/port:/ {print $2}' port-create.txt`
 	atf_check -o save:portlist.txt ctladm portlist -qf iscsi
-	atf_check -o inline:"Port destroyed successfully\n" ctladm port -r -d iscsi -p 9999 -O cfiscsi_portal_group_tag=$PGTAG -O cfiscsi_target="$TARGET"
+	atf_check -o inline:"Port destroyed successfully\n" ctladm port -r -d iscsi -O cfiscsi_portal_group_tag=$PGTAG -O cfiscsi_target="$TARGET"
 	# Check that the port was removed.  A new port may have been added with
 	# the same ID, so match against the target and tag, too.
 	PGTAGHEX=0x7631	# PGTAG in hex
@@ -270,8 +287,8 @@ remove_iscsi_without_required_args_body()
 	TARGET=iqn.2018-10.myhost.remove_iscsi_without_required_args
 	atf_check -o save:port-create.txt ctladm port -c -d "iscsi" -O cfiscsi_portal_group_tag=$PGTAG -O cfiscsi_target="$TARGET"
 	echo "target: $TARGET" >> port-create.txt
-	atf_check -s exit:1 -e match:"Missing required argument: cfiscsi_portal_group_tag" ctladm port -r -d iscsi -p 9999 -O cfiscsi_target="$TARGET"
-	atf_check -s exit:1 -e match:"Missing required argument: cfiscsi_target" ctladm port -r -d iscsi -p 9999 -O cfiscsi_portal_group_tag=$PGTAG
+	atf_check -s exit:1 -e match:"Missing required argument: cfiscsi_portal_group_tag" ctladm port -r -d iscsi -O cfiscsi_target="$TARGET"
+	atf_check -s exit:1 -e match:"Missing required argument: cfiscsi_target" ctladm port -r -d iscsi -O cfiscsi_portal_group_tag=$PGTAG
 }
 remove_iscsi_without_required_args_cleanup()
 {
@@ -288,6 +305,7 @@ atf_init_test_cases()
 	atf_add_test_case disable_ioctl
 	atf_add_test_case enable_ioctl
 	atf_add_test_case remove_ioctl
+	atf_add_test_case remove_ioctl_without_required_args
 	atf_add_test_case remove_iscsi
 	atf_add_test_case remove_iscsi_without_required_args
 }