diff --git a/cmd/skopeo/layers.go b/cmd/skopeo/layers.go
index c5c686ca..5728f0cc 100644
--- a/cmd/skopeo/layers.go
+++ b/cmd/skopeo/layers.go
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 package main
 
 import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"io/ioutil"
+	"os"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/containers/image/directory"
@@ -11,14 +14,17 @@ import (
 	"github.com/urfave/cli"
 )
 
-// TODO(runcom): document args and usage
 var layersCmd = cli.Command{
 	Name:      "layers",
 	Usage:     "Get layers of IMAGE-NAME",
-	ArgsUsage: "IMAGE-NAME",
+	ArgsUsage: "IMAGE-NAME [LAYER...]",
 	Action: func(c *cli.Context) error {
+		fmt.Fprintln(os.Stderr, `DEPRECATED: skopeo layers is deprecated in favor of skopeo copy`)
+		if c.NArg() == 0 {
+			return errors.New("Usage: layers imageReference [layer...]")
+		}
 		rawSource, err := parseImageSource(c, c.Args()[0], []string{
-			// TODO: skopeo layers only support these now
+			// TODO: skopeo layers only supports these now
 			// eventually we'll remove this command altogether...
 			manifest.DockerV2Schema1SignedMediaType,
 			manifest.DockerV2Schema1MediaType,