docker/cli · error

option 'bind-recursive=readonly' requires 'bind-propagation=

Error message

option 'bind-recursive=readonly' requires 'bind-propagation=rprivate' to be specified in conjunction

What it means

Error "option 'bind-recursive=readonly' requires 'bind-propagation=rprivate' to be specified in conjunction" thrown in docker/cli.

Source

Thrown at opts/mount_utils.go:32

func validateMountOptions(m *mount.Mount) error {
	if err := validateExclusiveOptions(m); err != nil {
		return err
	}

	if m.BindOptions != nil {
		if m.BindOptions.ReadOnlyNonRecursive && !m.ReadOnly {
			return errors.New("option 'bind-recursive=writable' requires 'readonly' to be specified in conjunction")
		}
		if m.BindOptions.ReadOnlyForceRecursive {
			if !m.ReadOnly {
				return errors.New("option 'bind-recursive=readonly' requires 'readonly' to be specified in conjunction")
			}
			if m.BindOptions.Propagation != mount.PropagationRPrivate {
				// FIXME(thaJeztah): this is missing daemon-side validation
				//
				//	docker run --rm --mount type=bind,src=/var/run,target=/foo,bind-recursive=readonly,readonly alpine
				//	# no error
				return errors.New("option 'bind-recursive=readonly' requires 'bind-propagation=rprivate' to be specified in conjunction")
			}
		}
	}

	return nil
}

// validateExclusiveOptions checks if the given mount config only contains
// options for the given mount-type.
//
// This is the client-side equivalent of [mounts.validateExclusiveOptions] in
// the daemon, but with error-messages matching client-side flags / options.
//
// [mounts.validateExclusiveOptions]: https://github.com/moby/moby/blob/v2.0.0-beta.6/daemon/volume/mounts/validate.go#L31-L50
func validateExclusiveOptions(m *mount.Mount) error {
	if m.Type == "" {
		return errors.New("type is required")
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to e9452d6e78)

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at opts/mount_utils.go:32 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of docker/cli@e9452d6e78 (2026-08-01). Data as JSON: /data/errors/5dd563038c0031bf.json. Report an issue: GitHub.