diff --git a/cibuildwheel/__main__.py b/cibuildwheel/__main__.py
index 7585ca830..60849857a 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/__main__.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/__main__.py
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 from cibuildwheel.typing import PLATFORMS, PlatformName
 from cibuildwheel.util.file import CIBW_CACHE_PATH
 from cibuildwheel.util.helpers import strtobool
+from cibuildwheel.util.resources import read_all_configs
 
 
 @dataclasses.dataclass
@@ -132,6 +133,8 @@ def main_inner(global_options: GlobalOptions) -> None:
     parser.add_argument(
         "--only",
         default=None,
+        choices=[v["identifier"] for vv in read_all_configs().values() for v in vv],
+        metavar="IDENTIFIER",
         help="""
             Force a single wheel build when given an identifier. Overrides
             CIBW_BUILD/CIBW_SKIP. --platform and --arch cannot be specified
diff --git a/cibuildwheel/util/resources.py b/cibuildwheel/util/resources.py
index 0cb09a26d..4be747a96 100644
--- a/cibuildwheel/util/resources.py
+++ b/cibuildwheel/util/resources.py
@@ -22,8 +22,11 @@
 
 # this value is cached because it's used a lot in unit tests
 @functools.cache
-def read_python_configs(config: PlatformName) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
+def read_all_configs() -> dict[str, list[dict[str, str]]]:
     with BUILD_PLATFORMS.open("rb") as f:
         loaded_file = tomllib.load(f)
-    results: list[dict[str, str]] = list(loaded_file[config]["python_configurations"])
-    return results
+    return {k: list[dict[str, str]](v["python_configurations"]) for k, v in loaded_file.items()}
+
+
+def read_python_configs(config: PlatformName) -> list[dict[str, str]]:
+    return read_all_configs()[config]