diff --git a/packages/app/src/cli/commands/app/bulk/execute.ts b/packages/app/src/cli/commands/app/bulk/execute.ts
index 07e0ed00e4..d54f2d287d 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/cli/commands/app/bulk/execute.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/cli/commands/app/bulk/execute.ts
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ export default class BulkExecute extends AppLinkedCommand {
       query,
       variables: flags.variables,
       variableFile: flags['variable-file'],
-      watch: flags.watch,
+      watch: flags.watch ?? false,
       outputFile: flags['output-file'],
       ...(flags.version && {version: flags.version}),
     })
diff --git a/packages/app/src/cli/flags.ts b/packages/app/src/cli/flags.ts
index 85b5969174..e9561dada8 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/cli/flags.ts
+++ b/packages/app/src/cli/flags.ts
@@ -64,13 +64,14 @@ export const bulkOperationFlags = {
     parse: async (input) => normalizeStoreFqdn(input),
   }),
   watch: Flags.boolean({
-    description: 'Wait for bulk operation results before exiting.',
+    description: 'Wait for bulk operation results before exiting. Defaults to false.',
     env: 'SHOPIFY_FLAG_WATCH',
-    default: false,
   }),
   'output-file': Flags.string({
-    description: 'The file path where results should be written. If not specified, results will be written to STDOUT.',
+    description:
+      'The file path where results should be written if --watch is specified. If not specified, results will be written to STDOUT.',
     env: 'SHOPIFY_FLAG_OUTPUT_FILE',
+    dependsOn: ['watch'],
   }),
   version: Flags.string({
     description: 'The API version to use for the bulk operation. If not specified, uses the latest stable version.',
diff --git a/packages/cli/oclif.manifest.json b/packages/cli/oclif.manifest.json
index da5f1d81b8..160ddd015c 100644
--- a/packages/cli/oclif.manifest.json
+++ b/packages/cli/oclif.manifest.json
@@ -125,7 +125,10 @@
           "type": "boolean"
         },
         "output-file": {
-          "description": "The file path where results should be written. If not specified, results will be written to STDOUT.",
+          "dependsOn": [
+            "watch"
+          ],
+          "description": "The file path where results should be written if --watch is specified. If not specified, results will be written to STDOUT.",
           "env": "SHOPIFY_FLAG_OUTPUT_FILE",
           "hasDynamicHelp": false,
           "multiple": false,
@@ -212,7 +215,7 @@
         },
         "watch": {
           "allowNo": false,
-          "description": "Wait for bulk operation results before exiting.",
+          "description": "Wait for bulk operation results before exiting. Defaults to false.",
           "env": "SHOPIFY_FLAG_WATCH",
           "name": "watch",
           "type": "boolean"