diff --git a/src/bedToIgv/bedToIgv.cpp b/src/bedToIgv/bedToIgv.cpp
index a5245e55c94f2d4cbffb80a9eaa82c258bd0adc9..8930692d3549e2dccda9af027f82463821efacaa 100644
--- a/src/bedToIgv/bedToIgv.cpp
+++ b/src/bedToIgv/bedToIgv.cpp
@@ -42,20 +42,17 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 	bool showHelp = false;
 
 	// input files
-	string bedFile;
+	string bedFile   = "stdin";
     string imagePath = "./";
     string sortType  = "none";
     string session   = "none";    
     int slop         = 0;
     string imageType = "png";
     
-	bool haveBed         = false;
+	bool haveBed         = true;
 	bool collapse        = false;
     bool useNames        = false;
 
-	// check to see if we should print out some help
-	if(argc <= 1) showHelp = true;
-
 	for(int i = 1; i < argc; i++) {
 		int parameterLength = (int)strlen(argv[i]);
 
@@ -74,7 +71,6 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[]) {
 
 		if(PARAMETER_CHECK("-i", 2, parameterLength)) {
 			if ((i+1) < argc) {
-				haveBed = true;
 				bedFile = argv[i + 1];
 				i++;
 			}