diff --git a/cmd/nerdctl/compose_pull.go b/cmd/nerdctl/compose_pull.go
index a643204c6c6..e04ae4b98de 100644
--- a/cmd/nerdctl/compose_pull.go
+++ b/cmd/nerdctl/compose_pull.go
@@ -17,15 +17,13 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
-
 	"github.com/containerd/nerdctl/pkg/composer"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
 func newComposePullCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	var composePullCommand = &cobra.Command{
-		Use:           "pull [SERVICE]...",
+		Use:           "pull [SERVICE...]",
 		Short:         "Pull service images",
 		RunE:          composePullAction,
 		SilenceUsage:  true,
@@ -36,11 +34,6 @@ func newComposePullCommand() *cobra.Command {
 }
 
 func composePullAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-	if len(args) != 0 {
-		// TODO: support specifying service names as args
-		return fmt.Errorf("arguments %v not supported", args)
-	}
-
 	client, ctx, cancel, err := newClient(cmd)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -58,5 +51,5 @@ func composePullAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	po := composer.PullOptions{
 		Quiet: quiet,
 	}
-	return c.Pull(ctx, po)
+	return c.Pull(ctx, po, args)
 }
diff --git a/cmd/nerdctl/compose_pull_linux_test.go b/cmd/nerdctl/compose_pull_linux_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..be974462319
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/nerdctl/compose_pull_linux_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+/*
+   Copyright The containerd Authors.
+
+   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+   You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+   limitations under the License.
+*/
+
+package main
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/containerd/nerdctl/pkg/testutil"
+)
+
+func TestComposePullWithService(t *testing.T) {
+	base := testutil.NewBase(t)
+	var dockerComposeYAML = fmt.Sprintf(`
+version: '3.1'
+
+services:
+
+  wordpress:
+    image: %s
+    ports:
+      - 8080:80
+    environment:
+      WORDPRESS_DB_HOST: db
+      WORDPRESS_DB_USER: exampleuser
+      WORDPRESS_DB_PASSWORD: examplepass
+      WORDPRESS_DB_NAME: exampledb
+    volumes:
+      - wordpress:/var/www/html
+
+  db:
+    image: %s
+    environment:
+      MYSQL_DATABASE: exampledb
+      MYSQL_USER: exampleuser
+      MYSQL_PASSWORD: examplepass
+      MYSQL_RANDOM_ROOT_PASSWORD: '1'
+    volumes:
+      - db:/var/lib/mysql
+
+volumes:
+  wordpress:
+  db:
+`, testutil.WordpressImage, testutil.MariaDBImage)
+
+	comp := testutil.NewComposeDir(t, dockerComposeYAML)
+	defer comp.CleanUp()
+
+	base.ComposeCmd("-f", comp.YAMLFullPath(), "pull", "db").AssertNoOut("wordpress")
+}
diff --git a/cmd/nerdctl/compose_push.go b/cmd/nerdctl/compose_push.go
index b036da09f2e..816798dabee 100644
--- a/cmd/nerdctl/compose_push.go
+++ b/cmd/nerdctl/compose_push.go
@@ -17,15 +17,13 @@
 package main
 
 import (
-	"fmt"
-
 	"github.com/containerd/nerdctl/pkg/composer"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 )
 
 func newComposePushCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	var composePushCommand = &cobra.Command{
-		Use:           "push [SERVICE]...",
+		Use:           "push [SERVICE...]",
 		Short:         "Push service images",
 		RunE:          composePushAction,
 		SilenceUsage:  true,
@@ -35,11 +33,6 @@ func newComposePushCommand() *cobra.Command {
 }
 
 func composePushAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
-	if len(args) != 0 {
-		// TODO: support specifying service names as args
-		return fmt.Errorf("arguments %v not supported", args)
-	}
-
 	client, ctx, cancel, err := newClient(cmd)
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
@@ -51,5 +44,5 @@ func composePushAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 	po := composer.PushOptions{}
-	return c.Push(ctx, po)
+	return c.Push(ctx, po, args)
 }
diff --git a/pkg/composer/pull.go b/pkg/composer/pull.go
index aac1dbbafe2..897565add04 100644
--- a/pkg/composer/pull.go
+++ b/pkg/composer/pull.go
@@ -31,8 +31,8 @@ type PullOptions struct {
 	Quiet bool
 }
 
-func (c *Composer) Pull(ctx context.Context, po PullOptions) error {
-	return c.project.WithServices(nil, func(svc types.ServiceConfig) error {
+func (c *Composer) Pull(ctx context.Context, po PullOptions, services []string) error {
+	return c.project.WithServices(services, func(svc types.ServiceConfig) error {
 		ps, err := serviceparser.Parse(c.project, svc)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
diff --git a/pkg/composer/push.go b/pkg/composer/push.go
index 9a19639b064..6c4597d68d2 100644
--- a/pkg/composer/push.go
+++ b/pkg/composer/push.go
@@ -30,8 +30,8 @@ import (
 type PushOptions struct {
 }
 
-func (c *Composer) Push(ctx context.Context, po PushOptions) error {
-	return c.project.WithServices(nil, func(svc types.ServiceConfig) error {
+func (c *Composer) Push(ctx context.Context, po PushOptions, services []string) error {
+	return c.project.WithServices(services, func(svc types.ServiceConfig) error {
 		ps, err := serviceparser.Parse(c.project, svc)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err