diff --git a/pubs/pubs_cmd.py b/pubs/pubs_cmd.py
index da8a43e..2edfd65 100644
--- a/pubs/pubs_cmd.py
+++ b/pubs/pubs_cmd.py
@@ -69,7 +69,6 @@ def execute(raw_args=sys.argv):
                                          prog="pubs", add_help=True)
         parser.add_argument('--version', action='version', version=__version__)
         subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(title="valid commands", dest="command")
-        subparsers.required = True
 
         # Populate the parser with core commands
         for cmd_name, cmd_mod in CORE_CMDS.items():
@@ -83,8 +82,15 @@ def execute(raw_args=sys.argv):
 
         # Eventually autocomplete
         autocomplete(parser)
+
         # Parse and run appropriate command
-        args = parser.parse_args(remaining_args)
+        # if no command, print help and exit peacefully (as '--help' does)
+        args = parser.parse_args(remaining_args) 
+        if not args.command:
+            ui.error("Too few arguments!\n")
+            parser.print_help(file=sys.stderr)
+            sys.exit(2)
+
         args.prog = "pubs"  # FIXME?
         args.func(conf, args)
 
diff --git a/readme.md b/readme.md
index 1a060e2..21767db 100644
--- a/readme.md
+++ b/readme.md
@@ -125,3 +125,4 @@ You can access the self-documented configuration by using `pubs conf`, and all t
 - [Olivier Mangin](http://olivier.mangin.com)
 - Jonathan Grizou
 - Arnold Sykosch
+- [Bill Flynn](https://github.com/wflynny)
diff --git a/tests/fake_env.py b/tests/fake_env.py
index 00ad0da..f239018 100644
--- a/tests/fake_env.py
+++ b/tests/fake_env.py
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ class FakeInput():
 class TestFakeFs(fake_filesystem_unittest.TestCase):
 
     def setUp(self):
-        self.rootpath = os.path.dirname(__file__)
+        self.rootpath = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
         self.setUpPyfakefs()
         self.fs.CreateDirectory(self.rootpath)
         os.chdir(self.rootpath)
diff --git a/tests/test_usecase.py b/tests/test_usecase.py
index 506ed03..41b652a 100644
--- a/tests/test_usecase.py
+++ b/tests/test_usecase.py
@@ -35,8 +35,15 @@ class FakeSystemExit(Exception):
     function, so they can be catched by ExpectedFailure tests in Python 2.x.
 
     If a code is expected to raise SystemExit, catch FakeSystemExit instead.
+
+    Added explicit __init__ so SystemExit.code functionality could be emulated.
+    Taking form from https://stackoverflow.com/a/26938914/1634191
     """
-    pass
+    def __init__(self, message, code=None, *args):
+        self.message = message
+        self.code = code
+
+        super(FakeSystemExit, self).__init__(message, *args)
 
 
 # code for fake fs
@@ -131,9 +138,9 @@ class CommandTestCase(fake_env.TestFakeFs):
             exc_class, exc, tb = sys.exc_info()
             if sys.version_info.major == 2:
                 # using six to avoid a SyntaxError in Python 3.x
-                six.reraise(FakeSystemExit, exc, tb)
+                six.reraise(FakeSystemExit, FakeSystemExit(*exc.args), tb)
             else:
-                raise FakeSystemExit(exc).with_traceback(tb)
+                raise FakeSystemExit(*exc.args).with_traceback(tb)
 
     def tearDown(self):
         pass
@@ -190,8 +197,27 @@ class URLContentTestCase(DataCommandTestCase):
 class TestAlone(CommandTestCase):
 
     def test_alone_misses_command(self):
-        with self.assertRaises(FakeSystemExit):
+        with self.assertRaises(FakeSystemExit) as cm:
             self.execute_cmds(['pubs'])
+            self.assertEqual(cm.exception.code, 2)
+
+
+    @unittest.skipIf(sys.version_info.major == 2, "not supported for Python2")
+    def test_alone_prints_help(self):
+        # capturing the output of `pubs --help` is difficult because argparse
+        # raises as SystemExit(0) after calling `print_help`, and this gets
+        # caught so no output is captured.  so comparing outputs of `pubs` and
+        # `pubs --help` isn't too easy unless substantially reorganization of
+        # the parser and testing context is made.  instead, the exit codes of
+        # the two usecases are compared.
+
+        with self.assertRaises(FakeSystemExit) as cm1:
+            self.execute_cmds(['pubs'])
+
+        with self.assertRaises(FakeSystemExit) as cm2:
+            self.execute_cmds(['pubs', '--help'])
+
+        self.assertEqual(cm1.exception.code, cm2.exception.code, 2)
 
 
 class TestInit(CommandTestCase):