diff --git a/@commitlint/cli/src/cli.ts b/@commitlint/cli/src/cli.ts
index ed34a75e18..8a8ec6f35f 100644
--- a/@commitlint/cli/src/cli.ts
+++ b/@commitlint/cli/src/cli.ts
@@ -352,7 +352,10 @@ function checkFromStdin(input: (string | number)[], flags: CliFlags): boolean {
 }
 
 function checkFromRepository(flags: CliFlags): boolean {
-	return checkFromHistory(flags) || checkFromEdit(flags);
+	return (
+		(checkFromHistory(flags) && checkHistoryValue(flags)) ||
+		checkFromEdit(flags)
+	);
 }
 
 function checkFromEdit(flags: CliFlags): boolean {
@@ -367,6 +370,19 @@ function checkFromHistory(flags: CliFlags): boolean {
 	);
 }
 
+function checkHistoryValue(flags: CliFlags): boolean {
+	if (flags.from === flags.to) {
+		const err = new CliError(
+			'Please use a different commit hash for --from and --to, not the same. (Or use the --last flag for analyzing just the last commit.)',
+			pkg.name
+		);
+		yargs.showHelp('log');
+		console.log(err.message);
+		throw err;
+	}
+	return true;
+}
+
 function normalizeFlags(flags: CliFlags): CliFlags {
 	const edit = getEditValue(flags);
 	return {