diff --git a/amodem/recv.py b/amodem/recv.py
index 3af14a4..7e00794 100644
--- a/amodem/recv.py
+++ b/amodem/recv.py
@@ -86,9 +86,9 @@ def find_start(buf, length):
 
 class Receiver(object):
 
-    def __init__(self, pylab=None):
+    def __init__(self, plt=None):
         self.stats = {}
-        self.plt = pylab or common.Dummy()
+        self.plt = plt or common.Dummy()
 
     def _prefix(self, sampler, freq, gain=1.0, skip=5):
         symbols = dsp.Demux(sampler, [freq])
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ def main(args):
 
     reader.check = common.check_saturation
 
-    receiver = Receiver(args.plt)
+    receiver = Receiver(plt=args.plot)
     success = False
     try:
         log.info('Waiting for carrier tone: %.1f kHz', config.Fc / 1e3)
diff --git a/scripts/amodem b/scripts/amodem
index 9566538..0b87f37 100755
--- a/scripts/amodem
+++ b/scripts/amodem
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ def main():
         '--skip', type=int, default=128,
         help='skip initial N samples, due to spurious spikes')
     receiver.add_argument(
-        '--plot', dest='plt', action='store_true', default=False,
+        '--plot', action='store_true', default=False,
         help='plot results using pylab module')
     receiver.set_defaults(
         main=run_recv,
@@ -120,6 +120,9 @@ def main():
 
     # Parsing and execution
     log.debug('MODEM settings: %r', config.settings)
+    if args.plot:
+        import pylab
+        args.plot = pylab
     args.main(args)