diff --git a/cli/src/commands/checkout.rs b/cli/src/commands/checkout.rs
index e870bdbc56..fe2fa902b0 100644
--- a/cli/src/commands/checkout.rs
+++ b/cli/src/commands/checkout.rs
@@ -25,7 +25,6 @@ use crate::ui::Ui;
 /// For more information, see
 /// https://github.com/martinvonz/jj/blob/main/docs/working-copy.md.
 #[derive(clap::Args, Clone, Debug)]
-#[command(visible_aliases = &["co"])]
 pub(crate) struct CheckoutArgs {
     /// The revision to update to
     revision: RevisionArg,
diff --git a/cli/src/config/misc.toml b/cli/src/config/misc.toml
index c3daf74b99..6802b92bca 100644
--- a/cli/src/config/misc.toml
+++ b/cli/src/config/misc.toml
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
+# The code assumes that this table exists, so don't delete it even if you remove
+# all aliases from here.
 [aliases]
-# Placeholder: added by user
+co = ["checkout"]
 
 [format]
 tree-level-conflicts = true