diff --git a/src/charon-cmd/charon-cmd.c b/src/charon-cmd/charon-cmd.c
index 1293ec4c0..82bc3ee84 100644
--- a/src/charon-cmd/charon-cmd.c
+++ b/src/charon-cmd/charon-cmd.c
@@ -358,9 +358,6 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	creds = cmd_creds_create();
 	atexit(cleanup_creds);
 
-	/* handle all arguments */
-	handle_arguments(argc, argv, FALSE);
-
 	if (uname(&utsname) != 0)
 	{
 		memset(&utsname, 0, sizeof(utsname));
@@ -369,6 +366,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[])
 		 VERSION, utsname.sysname, utsname.release, utsname.machine);
 	lib->plugins->status(lib->plugins, LEVEL_CTRL);
 
+	/* handle all arguments */
+	handle_arguments(argc, argv, FALSE);
+
 	/* add handler for SEGV and ILL,
 	 * INT, TERM and HUP are handled by sigwaitinfo() in run() */
 	action.sa_handler = segv_handler;