diff --git a/cmd/root.go b/cmd/root.go
index 9984e10..5e74d06 100644
--- a/cmd/root.go
+++ b/cmd/root.go
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import (
 	"github.com/veandco/go-sdl2/sdl"
 )
 
-var presets []string
 var transition bool
 
 /*
@@ -49,8 +48,8 @@ func checkStdin() error {
  * validatePresets performs some basic checks on the presets passed in and
  * returns an error if it finds a problem.
  */
-func validatePresets() error {
-	for _, p := range presets {
+func validatePresets(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
+	for _, p := range args {
 		info, err := os.Stat(p)
 		if err != nil {
 			return err
@@ -145,12 +144,7 @@ func milkbucket(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) {
 	}
 	defer sdl.Quit()
 
-	err = validatePresets()
-	if err != nil {
-		log.Fatal(err)
-	}
-
-	m, err := newMilkDropWindow(800, 600, presets)
+	m, err := newMilkDropWindow(800, 600, args)
 	if err != nil {
 		log.Fatal(err)
 	}
@@ -174,7 +168,8 @@ var rootCmd = &cobra.Command{
 	Long: `milkbucket is an audio visualizer.
 
 It uses Milkdrop preset files to generate visualizations from standard input.`,
-	Run: milkbucket,
+	Run:  milkbucket,
+	Args: validatePresets,
 }
 
 // Execute adds all child commands to the root command and sets flags appropriately.
@@ -194,6 +189,4 @@ func init() {
 	// Cobra also supports local flags, which will only run
 	// when this action is called directly.
 	rootCmd.Flags().BoolVarP(&transition, "transition", "t", false, "smoothly transition between presets")
-
-	rootCmd.Flags().StringArrayVarP(&presets, "presets", "p", []string{}, "preset files to use")
 }