diff --git a/cmd/nerdctl/namespace/namespace_update.go b/cmd/nerdctl/namespace/namespace_update.go
index b390dc26792..3aab2b117d1 100644
--- a/cmd/nerdctl/namespace/namespace_update.go
+++ b/cmd/nerdctl/namespace/namespace_update.go
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@
 package namespace
 
 import (
+	"errors"
+
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 
 	"github.com/containerd/nerdctl/v2/cmd/nerdctl/helpers"
@@ -26,7 +28,7 @@ import (
 )
 
 func newNamespacelabelUpdateCommand() *cobra.Command {
-	namespaceLableCommand := &cobra.Command{
+	namespaceLabelCommand := &cobra.Command{
 		Use:           "update [flags] NAMESPACE",
 		Short:         "Update labels for a namespace",
 		RunE:          labelUpdateAction,
@@ -34,8 +36,8 @@ func newNamespacelabelUpdateCommand() *cobra.Command {
 		SilenceUsage:  true,
 		SilenceErrors: true,
 	}
-	namespaceLableCommand.Flags().StringArrayP("label", "l", nil, "Set labels for a namespace")
-	return namespaceLableCommand
+	namespaceLabelCommand.Flags().StringArrayP("label", "l", nil, "Set labels for a namespace (required)")
+	return namespaceLabelCommand
 }
 
 func processNamespaceUpdateCommandOption(cmd *cobra.Command) (types.NamespaceUpdateOptions, error) {
@@ -47,6 +49,11 @@ func processNamespaceUpdateCommandOption(cmd *cobra.Command) (types.NamespaceUpd
 	if err != nil {
 		return types.NamespaceUpdateOptions{}, err
 	}
+    
+    if (len(labels) == 0) {
+		return types.NamespaceUpdateOptions{}, errors.New("use \"--label\" or \"-l\" to specify labels for namespace");
+    }
+
 	return types.NamespaceUpdateOptions{
 		GOptions: globalOptions,
 		Labels:   labels,
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/namespace/common.go b/pkg/cmd/namespace/common.go
index e08939e0427..2285dc30fdd 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/namespace/common.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/namespace/common.go
@@ -16,7 +16,11 @@
 
 package namespace
 
-import "strings"
+import (
+    "strings"
+    "unicode"
+    "errors"
+)
 
 func objectWithLabelArgs(args []string) map[string]string {
 	if len(args) >= 1 {
@@ -39,3 +43,19 @@ func labelArgs(labelStrings []string) map[string]string {
 
 	return labels
 }
+
+// Returns an error if name is invalid.
+func validateNamespaceName(name string) error {
+    for _, c := range(name) {
+        if (
+            c == ' ' ||
+            unicode.IsLower(c) ||
+            unicode.IsNumber(c)) {
+            continue
+        }
+
+        return errors.New("invalid namespace name - use only lowercase alphanumeric characters and hyphens")
+    }
+
+    return nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/namespace/create.go b/pkg/cmd/namespace/create.go
index f07b9f007e6..6541cd85502 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/namespace/create.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/namespace/create.go
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func Create(ctx context.Context, client *containerd.Client, namespace string, options types.NamespaceCreateOptions) error {
+    if err := validateNamespaceName(namespace); err != nil {
+        return err
+    }
+
 	labelsArg := objectWithLabelArgs(options.Labels)
 	namespaces := client.NamespaceService()
 	return namespaces.Create(ctx, namespace, labelsArg)
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/namespace/inspect.go b/pkg/cmd/namespace/inspect.go
index 3a7a4932815..e9ff77a616f 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/namespace/inspect.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/namespace/inspect.go
@@ -30,6 +30,10 @@ import (
 func Inspect(ctx context.Context, client *containerd.Client, inspectedNamespaces []string, options types.NamespaceInspectOptions) error {
 	result := make([]interface{}, len(inspectedNamespaces))
 	for index, ns := range inspectedNamespaces {
+        if err := validateNamespaceName(ns); err != nil {
+            return err
+        }
+
 		ctx = namespaces.WithNamespace(ctx, ns)
 		labels, err := client.NamespaceService().Labels(ctx, ns)
 		if err != nil {
diff --git a/pkg/cmd/namespace/update.go b/pkg/cmd/namespace/update.go
index 63d2d8a5971..881db23b6ff 100644
--- a/pkg/cmd/namespace/update.go
+++ b/pkg/cmd/namespace/update.go
@@ -25,6 +25,10 @@ import (
 )
 
 func Update(ctx context.Context, client *containerd.Client, namespace string, options types.NamespaceUpdateOptions) error {
+    if err := validateNamespaceName(namespace); err != nil {
+        return err
+    }
+
 	labelsArg := objectWithLabelArgs(options.Labels)
 	namespaces := client.NamespaceService()
 	for k, v := range labelsArg {