diff --git a/examples/gcoap/README.md b/examples/gcoap/README.md
index 9cd7d3b8b21746fe8ae9b069688649edfcc16a0d..ad0abd1aa1a6bb450408c1327e58060e4be88d05 100644
--- a/examples/gcoap/README.md
+++ b/examples/gcoap/README.md
@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ Start the libcoap example server with the command below.
 
 Enter the query below in the RIOT CLI.
 
-    > coap get fe80::d8b8:65ff:feee:121b 5683 /.well-known/core
+    > coap get fe80::d8b8:65ff:feee:121b%6 5683 /.well-known/core
 
 CLI output:
 
diff --git a/examples/gcoap/gcoap_cli.c b/examples/gcoap/gcoap_cli.c
index ffad0a3da6f2388cd8873d8b81e190c872fcd805..d952b53c98b3dba92522602dc21439e5cb40ac23 100644
--- a/examples/gcoap/gcoap_cli.c
+++ b/examples/gcoap/gcoap_cli.c
@@ -144,13 +144,35 @@ static size_t _send(uint8_t *buf, size_t len, char *addr_str, char *port_str)
     sock_udp_ep_t remote;
 
     remote.family = AF_INET6;
-    remote.netif  = SOCK_ADDR_ANY_NETIF;
+
+    /* parse for interface */
+    int iface = ipv6_addr_split_iface(addr_str);
+    if (iface == -1) {
+        if (gnrc_netif_numof() == 1) {
+            /* assign the single interface found in gnrc_netif_numof() */
+            remote.netif = (uint16_t)gnrc_netif_iter(NULL)->pid;
+        }
+        else {
+            remote.netif = SOCK_ADDR_ANY_NETIF;
+        }
+    }
+    else {
+        if (gnrc_netif_get_by_pid(iface) == NULL) {
+            puts("gcoap_cli: interface not valid");
+            return 0;
+        }
+        remote.netif = iface;
+    }
 
     /* parse destination address */
     if (ipv6_addr_from_str(&addr, addr_str) == NULL) {
         puts("gcoap_cli: unable to parse destination address");
         return 0;
     }
+    if ((remote.netif == SOCK_ADDR_ANY_NETIF) && ipv6_addr_is_link_local(&addr)) {
+        puts("gcoap_cli: must specify interface for link local target");
+        return 0;
+    }
     memcpy(&remote.addr.ipv6[0], &addr.u8[0], sizeof(addr.u8));
 
     /* parse port */
@@ -248,7 +270,7 @@ int gcoap_cli_cmd(int argc, char **argv)
         return 0;
     }
     else {
-        printf("usage: %s <get|post|put> [-c] <addr> <port> <path> [data]\n",
+        printf("usage: %s <get|post|put> [-c] <addr>[%%iface] <port> <path> [data]\n",
                argv[0]);
         printf("Options\n");
         printf("    -c  Send confirmably (defaults to non-confirmable)\n");