diff --git a/clearml/backend_interface/task/task.py b/clearml/backend_interface/task/task.py
index 9690afc4..b58b7cff 100644
--- a/clearml/backend_interface/task/task.py
+++ b/clearml/backend_interface/task/task.py
@@ -307,12 +307,15 @@ class Task(IdObjectBase, AccessMixin, SetupUploadMixin):
     def _auto_generate(self, project_name=None, task_name=None, task_type=TaskTypes.training):
         created_msg = make_message('Auto-generated at %(time)s UTC by %(user)s@%(host)s')
 
-        if task_type.value not in (self.TaskTypes.training, self.TaskTypes.testing) and \
+        if isinstance(task_type, self.TaskTypes):
+            task_type = task_type.value
+
+        if task_type not in (self.TaskTypes.training.value, self.TaskTypes.testing.value) and \
                 not Session.check_min_api_version('2.8'):
             print('WARNING: Changing task type to "{}" : '
                   'clearml-server does not support task type "{}", '
-                  'please upgrade clearml-server.'.format(self.TaskTypes.training, task_type.value))
-            task_type = self.TaskTypes.training
+                  'please upgrade clearml-server.'.format(self.TaskTypes.training, task_type))
+            task_type = self.TaskTypes.training.value
 
         project_id = None
         if project_name:
@@ -322,7 +325,7 @@ class Task(IdObjectBase, AccessMixin, SetupUploadMixin):
         extra_properties = {'system_tags': tags} if Session.check_min_api_version('2.3') else {'tags': tags}
         req = tasks.CreateRequest(
             name=task_name or make_message('Anonymous task (%(user)s@%(host)s %(time)s)'),
-            type=tasks.TaskTypeEnum(task_type.value),
+            type=tasks.TaskTypeEnum(task_type),
             comment=created_msg,
             project=project_id,
             input={'view': {}},
diff --git a/clearml/cli/task/__main__.py b/clearml/cli/task/__main__.py
index 7112f557..7a6964fb 100644
--- a/clearml/cli/task/__main__.py
+++ b/clearml/cli/task/__main__.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ from argparse import ArgumentParser
 from pathlib2 import Path
 
 from clearml import Task
+from clearml.version import __version__
 from clearml.backend_interface.task.populate import CreateAndPopulate
 
 
@@ -12,7 +13,7 @@ def setup_parser(parser):
     parser.add_argument('--project', type=str, default=None,
                         help='Required: set the project name for the task. '
                              'If --base-task-id is used, this arguments is optional.')
-    parser.add_argument('--name', type=str, default=None, required=True,
+    parser.add_argument('--name', type=str, default=None,
                         help='Required: select a name for the remote task')
     parser.add_argument('--repo', type=str, default=None,
                         help='remote URL for the repository to use. '
@@ -80,10 +81,12 @@ def cli():
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
     if args.version:
-        from ...version import __version__
         print('Version {}'.format(__version__))
         exit(0)
 
+    if not args.name:
+        raise ValueError("Task name must be provided, use `--name <task-name>`")
+
     if args.docker_bash_setup_script and Path(args.docker_bash_setup_script).is_file():
         with open(args.docker_bash_setup_script, "r") as bash_setup_script_file:
             bash_setup_script = bash_setup_script_file.readlines()