diff --git a/can_encode.py b/can_encode.py
index ee1d648..d7b0788 100644
--- a/can_encode.py
+++ b/can_encode.py
@@ -2,7 +2,10 @@ import sys
 
 import char_encodings
 
-decoded = sys.argv[1]
+if len(sys.argv) == 2:
+	decoded = sys.argv[1]
+else:
+	decoded = input()
 
 singlebyte = {}
 multibyte = {}