diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 063122e..9901932 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -28,21 +28,9 @@ async fn run() -> Result<()> {
     let generic_ip_re = args.generic_ip.as_ref();
     let generic_positive = args.generic_positive.as_ref();
     let generic_negative = args.generic_negative.as_ref();
-    if args.generic_ip.is_some()
-        || args.generic_logpath.is_some()
-        || args.generic_positive.is_some()
-        || args.generic_negative.is_some()
-    {
-        if args.generic_ip.is_none() || args.generic_logpath.is_none() {
-            bail!("generic parser needs both ip regex and log file path");
-        }
-        if !(args.generic_positive.is_some() ^ args.generic_negative.is_some()) {
-            bail!("generic parser requires either a positive or a negative regex");
-        }
-        if let Some(p) = generic_path.as_ref() {
-            ml.add_file(&p).await?;
-            log!("starting with generic parsing at {:?}", &p);
-        }
+    if let Some(p) = generic_path {
+        ml.add_file(&p).await?;
+        log!("starting with generic parsing at {:?}", &p);
     }
 
     // sshd
diff --git a/src/utils.rs b/src/utils.rs
index 48ad9f5..8fec206 100644
--- a/src/utils.rs
+++ b/src/utils.rs
@@ -124,19 +124,19 @@ pub struct Args {
     pub json_logpath: Option<PathBuf>,
 
     /// generic parser log file path
-    #[clap(long, value_parser = resolve_path)]
+    #[clap(long, value_parser = resolve_path, requires_all = ["generic_ip", "generic_match"])]
     pub generic_logpath: Option<PathBuf>,
 
     /// generic parser ip regex
-    #[clap(long , value_parser = parse_regex)]
+    #[clap(long, value_parser = parse_regex, requires = "generic_logpath")]
     pub generic_ip: Option<Regex>,
 
     /// generic parser positive - if a logline contains this, it is considered bad, the rest is good
-    #[clap(long)]
+    #[clap(long, requires = "generic_logpath")]
     pub generic_positive: Option<String>,
 
     /// generic parser negative - if a logline contains this, it is considered good, the rest is bad
-    #[clap(long)]
+    #[clap(long, requires = "generic_logpath")]
     pub generic_negative: Option<String>,
 
     /// invalid http statuses (for CLF and JSON logs). Coma separated list, accepts ranges with XX.