diff --git a/v2/cmd/nuclei/main.go b/v2/cmd/nuclei/main.go
index c474615a..c4e76e2b 100644
--- a/v2/cmd/nuclei/main.go
+++ b/v2/cmd/nuclei/main.go
@@ -105,9 +105,9 @@ on extensive configurability, massive extensibility and ease of use.`)
 		flagSet.BoolVar(&options.SystemResolvers, "system-resolvers", false, "use system DNS resolving as error fallback"),
 		flagSet.BoolVar(&options.OfflineHTTP, "passive", false, "enable passive HTTP response processing mode"),
 		flagSet.BoolVar(&options.EnvironmentVariables, "env-vars", false, "enable environment variables support"),
-		flagSet.StringVar(&options.ClientCertFile, "client-cert", "cc", "client certificate file (PEM-encoded) used for authenticating against scanned hosts"),
-		flagSet.StringVar(&options.ClientKeyFile, "client-key", "ck", "client key file (PEM-encoded) used for authenticating against scanned hosts"),
-		flagSet.StringVar(&options.ClientCAFile, "client-ca", "ca", "client certificate authority file (PEM-encoded) used for authenticating against scanned hosts"),
+		flagSet.StringVarP(&options.ClientCertFile, "client-cert", "cc", "", "client certificate file (PEM-encoded) used for authenticating against scanned hosts"),
+		flagSet.StringVarP(&options.ClientKeyFile, "client-key", "ck", "", "client key file (PEM-encoded) used for authenticating against scanned hosts"),
+		flagSet.StringVarP(&options.ClientCAFile, "client-ca", "ca", "", "client certificate authority file (PEM-encoded) used for authenticating against scanned hosts"),
 	)
 
 	createGroup(flagSet, "interactsh", "interactsh",
diff --git a/v2/internal/runner/options.go b/v2/internal/runner/options.go
index cba1af5b..fd43722b 100644
--- a/v2/internal/runner/options.go
+++ b/v2/internal/runner/options.go
@@ -98,6 +98,14 @@ func validateOptions(options *types.Options) error {
 		validateTemplatePaths(options.TemplatesDirectory, options.Templates, options.Workflows)
 	}
 
+	// Verify if any of the client certificate options were set since it requires all three to work properly
+	if len(options.ClientCertFile) > 0 || len(options.ClientKeyFile) > 0 || len(options.ClientCAFile) > 0 {
+		if len(options.ClientCertFile) == 0 || len(options.ClientKeyFile) == 0 || len(options.ClientCAFile) == 0 {
+			return errors.New("if a client certification option is provided, then all three must be provided")
+		}
+		validateCertificatePaths([]string{options.ClientCertFile, options.ClientKeyFile, options.ClientCAFile})
+	}
+
 	return nil
 }
 
@@ -174,3 +182,14 @@ func validateTemplatePaths(templatesDirectory string, templatePaths, workflowPat
 		}
 	}
 }
+
+func validateCertificatePaths(certificatePaths []string) {
+	for _, certificatePath := range certificatePaths {
+		if _, err := os.Stat(certificatePath); os.IsNotExist(err) {
+			// The provided path to the PEM certificate does not exist for the client authentication. As this is
+			// required for successful authentication, log and return an error
+			gologger.Fatal().Msgf("The given path (%s) to the certificate does not exist!", certificatePath)
+			break
+		}
+	}
+}