diff --git a/dup.rb b/dup.rb
index 70146b0..b679e0f 100755
--- a/dup.rb
+++ b/dup.rb
@@ -167,6 +167,8 @@ action = :run
 container = nil
 $dry_run = false
 $pull = false
+needs_container = true
+needs_basedir = true
 
 opts = GetoptLong.new(
 	[ '--sample', '-s', GetoptLong::NO_ARGUMENT ],
@@ -182,6 +184,7 @@ opts.each do |opt, arg|
 			action_sample
 		when '--create'
 			action = :create
+			needs_basedir = true
 		when '--help'
 			action_help
 		when '--dry-run'
@@ -194,15 +197,17 @@ end
 
 container = ARGV.shift
 
-if container==nil || container==""
+if needs_container && (container==nil || container=="")
 	raise "No container given."
 end
 
-if ENV['DUP_DIR']
-	base_dir = ENV['DUP_DIR']
-else
-	base_dir = File.join(Dir.home, ".dup")
-	puts "Environment variable DUP_DIR is not set. Looking for .yml files in #{base_dir}"
+if needs_basedir
+	if ENV['DUP_DIR']
+		base_dir = ENV['DUP_DIR']
+	else
+		base_dir = File.join(Dir.home, ".dup")
+		puts "Environment variable DUP_DIR is not set. Looking for .yml files in #{base_dir}"
+	end
 end
 
 file = "%s/%s.yml" % [ base_dir, container ]