diff --git a/scripts/dev/ios-node-e2e.ts b/scripts/dev/ios-node-e2e.ts
index 2027a6c2279d..e0df4073d4a5 100644
--- a/scripts/dev/ios-node-e2e.ts
+++ b/scripts/dev/ios-node-e2e.ts
@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@ const hasFlag = (flag: string) => argv.includes(flag);
 const BOOLEAN_FLAGS = new Set(["--dangerous", "--help", "-h", "--json"]);
 const VALUE_FLAGS = new Set(["--node", "--token", "--url", "--wait-seconds"]);
 
+function isMissingOptionValue(value: string | undefined): boolean {
+  return !value || BOOLEAN_FLAGS.has(value) || VALUE_FLAGS.has(value) || value.startsWith("--");
+}
+
 function failCli(message: string): never {
   writeStderrLine(message);
   process.exit(1);
@@ -53,7 +57,7 @@ function validateArgs(): void {
     }
     if (VALUE_FLAGS.has(arg)) {
       const value = argv[index + 1];
-      if (!value || value.startsWith("--")) {
+      if (isMissingOptionValue(value)) {
         failCli(`${arg} requires a value`);
       }
       index += 1;
@@ -63,11 +67,11 @@ function validateArgs(): void {
   }
 }
 
+validateArgs();
 if (hasFlag("--help") || hasFlag("-h")) {
   writeStdoutLine(usage());
   process.exit(0);
 }
-validateArgs();
 
 type NodeListPayload = {
   ts?: number;
diff --git a/test/scripts/ios-node-e2e.test.ts b/test/scripts/ios-node-e2e.test.ts
index 2762cdf24d29..dcae56d963fd 100644
--- a/test/scripts/ios-node-e2e.test.ts
+++ b/test/scripts/ios-node-e2e.test.ts
@@ -256,6 +256,14 @@ describe("ios-node-e2e", () => {
     expect(result.stdout).toBe("");
   });
 
+  it("rejects short flags as CLI option values before help handling", async () => {
+    const result = await runScriptRaw(["--url", "-h", "--token", "token"]);
+
+    expect(result).toMatchObject({ signal: null, status: 1, timedOut: false });
+    expect(result.stderr.trim()).toBe("--url requires a value");
+    expect(result.stdout).toBe("");
+  });
+
   it("rejects malformed wait seconds before connecting", async () => {
     const result = await runScript("ws://127.0.0.1:9", ["--wait-seconds", "1e3"]);