diff --git a/umi_tools/count.py b/umi_tools/count.py
index f8786c2..6d0d609 100644
--- a/umi_tools/count.py
+++ b/umi_tools/count.py
@@ -75,6 +75,10 @@ def main(argv=None):
     parser = U.OptionParser(version="%prog version: $Id$",
                             usage=usage,
                             description=globals()["__doc__"])
+    if len(argv) == 1:
+        parser.print_usage()
+        print ("Required options missing, see --help for more details")
+        return 1
 
     group = U.OptionGroup(parser, "count-specific options")
 
diff --git a/umi_tools/count_tab.py b/umi_tools/count_tab.py
index 842ac09..4e7cfa1 100644
--- a/umi_tools/count_tab.py
+++ b/umi_tools/count_tab.py
@@ -92,6 +92,11 @@ def main(argv=None):
                             usage=usage,
                             description=globals()["__doc__"])
 
+    if len(argv) == 1:
+        parser.print_usage()
+        print ("Required options missing, see --help for more details")
+        return 1
+
     group = U.OptionGroup(parser, "count_tab-specific options")
 
     group.add_option("--barcode-separator", dest="bc_sep",
diff --git a/umi_tools/dedup.py b/umi_tools/dedup.py
index 47f6c6c..27cf886 100644
--- a/umi_tools/dedup.py
+++ b/umi_tools/dedup.py
@@ -187,6 +187,11 @@ def main(argv=None):
     parser = U.OptionParser(version="%prog version: $Id$",
                             usage=usage,
                             description=globals()["__doc__"])
+    if len(argv) == 1:
+        parser.print_usage()
+        print ("Required options missing, see --help for more details")
+        return 1
+
     group = U.OptionGroup(parser, "dedup-specific options")
 
     group.add_option("--output-stats", dest="stats", type="string",
diff --git a/umi_tools/extract.py b/umi_tools/extract.py
index 43e0042..e5a3f65 100644
--- a/umi_tools/extract.py
+++ b/umi_tools/extract.py
@@ -186,6 +186,11 @@ def main(argv=None):
                             usage=usage,
                             description=globals()["__doc__"])
 
+    if len(argv) == 1:
+        parser.print_usage()
+        print ("Required options missing, see --help for more details")
+        return 1
+
     group = U.OptionGroup(parser, "extract-specific options")
 
     # (Experimental option) Retain the UMI in the sequence read"
diff --git a/umi_tools/group.py b/umi_tools/group.py
index 921d1d8..2e0c835 100644
--- a/umi_tools/group.py
+++ b/umi_tools/group.py
@@ -127,6 +127,11 @@ def main(argv=None):
                             usage=usage,
                             description=globals()["__doc__"])
 
+    if len(argv) == 1:
+        parser.print_usage()
+        print ("Required options missing, see --help for more details")
+        return 1
+
     group = U.OptionGroup(parser, "group-specific options")
 
     group.add_option("--group-out", dest="tsv", type="string",
diff --git a/umi_tools/umi_tools.py b/umi_tools/umi_tools.py
index 0e6969a..4fdc89a 100644
--- a/umi_tools/umi_tools.py
+++ b/umi_tools/umi_tools.py
@@ -1,10 +1,8 @@
 '''
 umi_tools.py - Tools for UMI analyses
-===============================================
+=====================================
 
 :Author: Tom Smith & Ian Sudbury, CGAT
-:Release: $Id$
-:Date: |today|
 :Tags: Genomics UMI
 
 There are 6 tools:
@@ -43,18 +41,30 @@ def main():
 
     if argv[1] == "--version" or argv[1] == "-v":
         print("UMI-tools version: %s" % __version__)
+
+        return 0
+
+    elif len(argv) > 2 and  argv[2] in ["--help", "-h", "--help-extended"]:
+        print("UMI-Tools: Version %s" % __version__)
+
         return 0
 
     command = argv[1]
-    
+
     try:
         module = importlib.import_module("umi_tools." + command, "umi_tools")
-    except ModuleNotFoundError:
-        print("'%s' is not a UMI-tools command. See 'umi_tools -h'." % command)
+    except ImportError:
+        print("'%s' is not a UMI-tools command. See 'umi_tools -h'.\n" % command)
+        print("For full UMI-tools documentation, see: "
+              "https://umi-tools.readthedocs.io/en/latest/\n")
+        print(globals()["__doc__"])
+
         return 1
 
-    del sys.argv[0]  # remove 'umi-tools' from sys.argv
-    return module.main(sys.argv)
+    # remove 'umi-tools' from sys.argv
+    del sys.argv[0]
+    module.main(sys.argv)
+
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/umi_tools/whitelist.py b/umi_tools/whitelist.py
index 5a5fb9e..40cd122 100644
--- a/umi_tools/whitelist.py
+++ b/umi_tools/whitelist.py
@@ -249,6 +249,10 @@ def main(argv=None):
     parser = U.OptionParser(version="%prog version: $Id$",
                             usage=usage,
                             description=globals()["__doc__"])
+    if len(argv) == 1:
+        parser.print_usage()
+        print ("Required options missing, see --help for more details")
+        return 1
 
     group = U.OptionGroup(parser, "whitelist-specific options")