diff --git a/cmd/minio-encode/main.go b/cmd/minio-encode/main.go
index 613ebb300..5c8001a57 100644
--- a/cmd/minio-encode/main.go
+++ b/cmd/minio-encode/main.go
@@ -14,17 +14,58 @@ func main() {
 	app := cli.NewApp()
 	app.Name = "minio-encode"
 	app.Usage = "erasure encode a byte stream"
+	app.Flags = []cli.Flag{
+		cli.StringFlag{
+			Name:  "input,i",
+			Value: "",
+			Usage: "Input file",
+		},
+		cli.StringFlag{
+			Name:  "output,o",
+			Value: "",
+			Usage: "Output file",
+		},
+	}
 	app.Action = func(c *cli.Context) {
-		erasureParameters, _ := erasure.ValidateParams(10, 5, 8, erasure.CAUCHY)
-
-		encoder := erasure.NewEncoder(erasureParameters)
-		input, err := ioutil.ReadAll(os.Stdin)
-		if err != nil {
-			log.Fatal("Error reading stdin")
+		// check if minio-encode called without parameters
+		if len(c.Args()) == 1 {
+			cli.ShowAppHelp(c)
 		}
+
+		// get input path
+		if c.String("input") == "" {
+			log.Fatal("No input specified")
+		}
+		inputFilePath := c.String("input")
+
+		// get output path
+		outputFilePath := inputFilePath
+		if c.String("output") != "" {
+			outputFilePath = c.String("output")
+		}
+
+		// get file
+		inputFile, err := os.Open(inputFilePath)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		// read file
+		input, err := ioutil.ReadAll(inputFile)
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatal(err)
+		}
+
+		// set up encoder
+		erasureParameters, _ := erasure.ValidateParams(10, 5, 8, erasure.CAUCHY)
+		encoder := erasure.NewEncoder(erasureParameters)
+
+		// encode data
 		encodedData, _ := encoder.Encode(input)
+
+		// write encoded data out
 		for key, data := range encodedData {
-			ioutil.WriteFile("output."+strconv.Itoa(key), data, 0600)
+			ioutil.WriteFile(outputFilePath+"."+strconv.Itoa(key), data, 0600)
 		}
 	}
 	app.Run(os.Args)