diff --git a/app/vmctl/flags.go b/app/vmctl/flags.go
index 1f044a7ea..a9ccb91cf 100644
--- a/app/vmctl/flags.go
+++ b/app/vmctl/flags.go
@@ -434,9 +434,10 @@ var (
 			Value: 1,
 		},
 		&cli.TimestampFlag{
-			Name:   remoteReadFilterTimeStart,
-			Usage:  "The time filter in RFC3339 format to select timeseries with timestamp equal or higher than provided value. E.g. '2020-01-01T20:07:00Z'",
-			Layout: time.RFC3339,
+			Name:     remoteReadFilterTimeStart,
+			Usage:    "The time filter in RFC3339 format to select timeseries with timestamp equal or higher than provided value. E.g. '2020-01-01T20:07:00Z'",
+			Layout:   time.RFC3339,
+			Required: true,
 		},
 		&cli.TimestampFlag{
 			Name:   remoteReadFilterTimeEnd,
diff --git a/docs/CHANGELOG.md b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
index 8c178921c..fbd200bbf 100644
--- a/docs/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/docs/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ The following tip changes can be tested by building VictoriaMetrics components f
 * BUGFIX: [vmalert](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmalert.html): Properly set datasource query params. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/4340). Thanks to @gsakun for [the pull request](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/pull/4341).
 * BUGFIX: [vmalert](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmalert.html): Properly form path to static assets in WEB UI if `http.pathPrefix` set. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/4349).
 * BUGFIX: [vmalert](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmalert.html): properly return empty slices instead of nil for `/api/v1/rules` for groups with present name but absent `rules`. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/4221).
+* BUGFIX: [vmctl](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/vmctl.html): fix panic in case `--remote-read-filter-time-start` flag is not set for remote-read mode. This flag is now required to use remote-read mode. See [this issue](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/issues/4553).
 
 ## [v1.87.6](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/releases/tag/v1.87.6)