diff --git a/README b/README
index 6a963a5f884f41905068eca3863d4efbd027cc8b..124440b25a48783a0629c484401211a0c0b5da75 100644
--- a/README
+++ b/README
@@ -31,13 +31,16 @@ USAGE
    It exits 0 on success, 1 if the input file was found to be invalid, and >1
    if an error occurs.
 
+   The optional oid argument selects a specific object to print instead of the
+   whole document. It is expected to be of the form "n.g" where n and g are
+   object and generation numbers, respectively. The generation number may be
+   omitted to pick the latest object matching n.
+
    The options are as follows:
 
    -d s
 	Dump the body data, after filter decoding, of a given stream object.
-	The oid argument is expected to be of the form "n.g" where n and g
-	are object and generation numbers, respectively. The generation number
-	may be omitted to pick the latest object matching n.
+	An oid argument is required.
 
    -q	Query/quiet mode. Do not print to stdout and suppress any messages
 	about parse errors. Just indicate success/failure via the exit status.