diff --git a/bin/blackbox_edit_end b/bin/blackbox_edit_end
index 618d13a..14f4609 100755
--- a/bin/blackbox_edit_end
+++ b/bin/blackbox_edit_end
@@ -9,6 +9,11 @@ source "${0%/*}/_blackbox_common.sh"
 
 next_steps=()
 
+if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
+  echo >&2 "Please provide at least one file for which editing has finished"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 for param in "$@" ; do
 
   unencrypted_file=$(get_unencrypted_filename "$param")
diff --git a/bin/blackbox_edit_start b/bin/blackbox_edit_start
index 79df67f..6f61e13 100755
--- a/bin/blackbox_edit_start
+++ b/bin/blackbox_edit_start
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@
 set -e
 source "${0%/*}/_blackbox_common.sh"
 
+if [ $# -eq 0 ]; then
+  echo >&2 "Please provide at least one file to start editing"
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 for param in "$@" ; do
 
   unencrypted_file=$(get_unencrypted_filename "$param")