diff --git a/launcher/config/cli-parser-builder.ts b/launcher/config/cli-parser-builder.ts
index eb0e06dc..b92a31c5 100644
--- a/launcher/config/cli-parser-builder.ts
+++ b/launcher/config/cli-parser-builder.ts
@@ -219,12 +219,17 @@ export function parseCliPrograms(
     .option('--select <id>', 'Pin an AniList media ID for the target series')
     .option('--log-level <level>', 'Log level')
     .action((target: string | undefined, options: Record<string, unknown>) => {
+      const selectValue = typeof options.select === 'string' ? options.select.trim() : '';
+      const hasSelect = selectValue.length > 0;
+      if (options.candidates === true && hasSelect) {
+        throw new Error('Dictionary --candidates and --select cannot be combined.');
+      }
       dictionaryTriggered = true;
       dictionaryTarget = target ?? null;
       dictionaryLogLevel = typeof options.logLevel === 'string' ? options.logLevel : null;
       dictionaryCandidates = options.candidates === true;
-      dictionarySelect = typeof options.select === 'string';
-      dictionaryAnilistId = typeof options.select === 'string' ? options.select : null;
+      dictionarySelect = hasSelect;
+      dictionaryAnilistId = hasSelect ? selectValue : null;
     });
 
   commandProgram
diff --git a/launcher/main.test.ts b/launcher/main.test.ts
index 5fb01224..4fc6d7a7 100644
--- a/launcher/main.test.ts
+++ b/launcher/main.test.ts
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ test('dictionary command forwards manual AniList selection modes to app command
     const capturePath = path.join(root, 'captured-args.txt');
     fs.writeFileSync(
       appPath,
-      '#!/bin/sh\nif [ -n "$SUBMINER_TEST_CAPTURE" ]; then printf "%s\\n" "$@" >> "$SUBMINER_TEST_CAPTURE"; fi\nexit 0\n',
+      '#!/bin/sh\nif [ -n "$SUBMINER_TEST_CAPTURE" ]; then printf "%s\\n" "$@" > "$SUBMINER_TEST_CAPTURE"; fi\nexit 0\n',
     );
     fs.chmodSync(appPath, 0o755);
 
diff --git a/launcher/parse-args.test.ts b/launcher/parse-args.test.ts
index 4bb8f3f9..7e7ebb02 100644
--- a/launcher/parse-args.test.ts
+++ b/launcher/parse-args.test.ts
@@ -110,6 +110,14 @@ test('parseArgs maps dictionary candidate lookup and manual selection', () => {
   assert.equal(selectParsed.dictionaryTarget, process.cwd());
 });
 
+test('parseArgs rejects conflicting dictionary candidate and selection modes', () => {
+  const exit = withProcessExitIntercept(() => {
+    parseArgs(['dictionary', '--candidates', '--select', '21355', '.'], 'subminer', {});
+  });
+
+  assert.equal(exit.code, 1);
+});
+
 test('parseArgs maps stats command and log-level override', () => {
   const parsed = parseArgs(['stats', '--log-level', 'debug'], 'subminer', {});