diff --git a/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/FeatureCommand.java b/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/FeatureCommand.java
index 87e4c228baf2e..ff29936481fe0 100644
--- a/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/FeatureCommand.java
+++ b/tools/src/main/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/FeatureCommand.java
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ static void execute(String... args) throws Exception {
                 .newArgumentParser("kafka-features")
                 .defaultHelp(true)
                 .description("This tool manages feature flags in Kafka.");
-        MutuallyExclusiveGroup bootstrapGroup = parser.addMutuallyExclusiveGroup().required(true);
+        MutuallyExclusiveGroup bootstrapGroup = parser.addMutuallyExclusiveGroup();
         bootstrapGroup.addArgument("--bootstrap-server")
                 .help("A comma-separated list of host:port pairs to use for establishing the connection to the Kafka cluster.");
         bootstrapGroup.addArgument("--bootstrap-controller")
@@ -92,14 +92,27 @@ static void execute(String... args) throws Exception {
         addVersionMappingParser(subparsers);
         addFeatureDependenciesParser(subparsers);
 
-        Namespace namespace = parser.parseArgsOrFail(args);
+        Namespace namespace = parser.parseArgs(args);
         String command = namespace.getString("command");
+        if (command.equals("version-mapping")) {
+            handleVersionMapping(namespace, Feature.PRODUCTION_FEATURES);
+            return;
+        } else if (command.equals("feature-dependencies")) {
+            handleFeatureDependencies(namespace, Feature.PRODUCTION_FEATURES);
+            return;
+        }
         String configPath = namespace.getString("command_config");
         Properties properties = (configPath == null) ? new Properties() : Utils.loadProps(configPath);
 
-        CommandLineUtils.initializeBootstrapProperties(properties,
-            Optional.ofNullable(namespace.getString("bootstrap_server")),
-            Optional.ofNullable(namespace.getString("bootstrap_controller")));
+        try {
+            CommandLineUtils.initializeBootstrapProperties(properties,
+                    Optional.ofNullable(namespace.getString("bootstrap_server")),
+                    Optional.ofNullable(namespace.getString("bootstrap_controller")));
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            // bootstrap_server and bootstrap_controller are in a mutually exclusive group,
+            // so the exception happens only when both of them are missing
+            throw new ArgumentParserException(e.getMessage(), parser);
+        }
 
         try (Admin adminClient = Admin.create(properties)) {
             switch (command) {
@@ -115,12 +128,6 @@ static void execute(String... args) throws Exception {
                 case "disable":
                     handleDisable(namespace, adminClient);
                     break;
-                case "version-mapping":
-                    handleVersionMapping(namespace, Feature.PRODUCTION_FEATURES);
-                    break;
-                case "feature-dependencies":
-                    handleFeatureDependencies(namespace, Feature.PRODUCTION_FEATURES);
-                    break;
                 default:
                     throw new TerseException("Unknown command " + command);
             }
diff --git a/tools/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/FeatureCommandTest.java b/tools/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/FeatureCommandTest.java
index 2caaf8a2918e8..01433dc674550 100644
--- a/tools/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/FeatureCommandTest.java
+++ b/tools/src/test/java/org/apache/kafka/tools/FeatureCommandTest.java
@@ -459,6 +459,22 @@ public void testHandleVersionMappingWithInvalidReleaseVersion() {
             MetadataVersion.MINIMUM_VERSION, MetadataVersion.latestTesting()), exception2.getMessage());
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void testHandleVersionMappingWithoutBootstrap() {
+        Map.Entry<String, String> output = ToolsTestUtils.grabConsoleOutputAndError(() -> FeatureCommand.mainNoExit("version-mapping"));
+        assertEquals("", output.getValue());
+        MetadataVersion metadataVersion = MetadataVersion.latestProduction();
+        assertTrue(output.getKey().contains("metadata.version=" + metadataVersion.featureLevel() + " (" + metadataVersion.version() + ")"),
+                "Output did not contain expected Metadata Version: " + output.getKey());
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testHandleRemoteCommandWithoutBootstrap() {
+        String errorMessage = ToolsTestUtils.grabConsoleError(() -> FeatureCommand.mainNoExit("upgrade"));
+        assertTrue(errorMessage.contains("You must specify either --bootstrap-controller " +
+                "or --bootstrap-server."));
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void testHandleFeatureDependenciesForFeatureWithDependencies() {
         Map<String, Object> namespace = new HashMap<>();