diff --git a/src/helper/options.c b/src/helper/options.c
index 61a101469..9e332cc8c 100644
--- a/src/helper/options.c
+++ b/src/helper/options.c
@@ -303,12 +303,10 @@ int parse_cmdline_args(struct command_context *cmd_ctx, int argc, char *argv[])
 				break;
 			}
 			case 'l':		/* --log_output | -l */
-				if (optarg)
-					command_run_linef(cmd_ctx, "log_output %s", optarg);
+				command_run_linef(cmd_ctx, "log_output %s", optarg);
 				break;
 			case 'c':		/* --command | -c */
-				if (optarg)
-				    add_config_command(optarg);
+				add_config_command(optarg);
 				break;
 			default:  /* '?' */
 				/* getopt will emit an error message, all we have to do is bail. */