diff --git a/src/taggingbackends/main.py b/src/taggingbackends/main.py
index cf3f85028dd7b5a8fd39fa406a48e0d678902dda..b552f261c7274a5402610dd8d6436aa8e8756b5e 100644
--- a/src/taggingbackends/main.py
+++ b/src/taggingbackends/main.py
@@ -178,9 +178,11 @@ def main(fun=None):
             elif sys.argv[k] == "--seed":
                 k = k + 1
                 seed = sys.argv[k]
-            else:
+            elif k+1 < len(sys.argv) and not sys.argv[k+1].startswith('-'):
                 unknown_args[sys.argv[k].lstrip('-').replace('-', '_')] = sys.argv[k+1]
                 k = k + 1
+            else:
+                unknown_args[sys.argv[k].lstrip('-').replace('-', '_')] = 'true'
             k = k + 1
         backend = BackendExplorer(project_dir, model_instance=model_instance,
                                   sandbox=sandbox)