diff --git a/k4FWCore/scripts/k4run b/k4FWCore/scripts/k4run
index 38ce40f5..92802c74 100755
--- a/k4FWCore/scripts/k4run
+++ b/k4FWCore/scripts/k4run
@@ -122,12 +122,6 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
                   print("  %s (from %s)" % (item, cfgDb[item]["lib"]))
         sys.exit()
 
-    if len(opts[0].config_files) == 0 \
-            and ('-h' not in opts[1] and '--help' not in opts[1]):
-      print('Error: missing gaudi options file.\n'
-      'Usage: k4run <options_file.py>, use --help to get a complete list of arguments')
-      sys.exit(1)
-
     for file in opts[0].config_files:
       load_file(file)
 
@@ -140,6 +134,11 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
 
     opts = parser.parse_args()
 
+    if len(opts.config_files) == 0:
+      print('Error: missing gaudi options file.\n'
+      'Usage: k4run <options_file.py>, use --help to get a complete list of arguments')
+      sys.exit(1)
+
     # print a doc line showing the configured algorithms
     logger.info(' '.join(f'--> {alg.name()}' for alg in ApplicationMgr().TopAlg))