diff --git a/ECCL.h b/ECCL.h
index 14ef666..cdc925c 100644
--- a/ECCL.h
+++ b/ECCL.h
@@ -107,12 +107,10 @@
         number of seconds to wait for a Want/Fail pattern to be matched.
         If this timeout occurs, the process exit status is 2.<br />
         Want (or the ConsoleWant environment variable) specifies the
-        regular expression to match a single line success message to the
-        Console process.  If this response is matched the process exit
-        status is 0.<br />
+        regular expression to match a single message to the Console process.
+        If this response is matched the process exit status is 0.<br />
         Fail (or the ConsoleFail environment variable) specifies the regular
-        expression to match a single line failure message to the Console
-        process.
+        expression to match a single message to the Console process.
         If this response is matched, the process exit status is 3.<br />
         While waiting for a pattern to be matched, any messages received
         by the Console process are provided as output (to STDOUT).<br />
@@ -122,7 +120,9 @@
 	If the Control server cannot be contacted, the process exit status
 	is 10.<br />
 	If the Control server actively refuses the login, the exit status
-	is 11.
+	is 11.<br />
+        NB. Command line arguments take precedence over environment variables
+        even if the command line aregument is an empty string.
       </section>
 
       <section>
diff --git a/EcConsole.m b/EcConsole.m
index 053c1cf..9319e78 100644
--- a/EcConsole.m
+++ b/EcConsole.m
@@ -863,8 +863,7 @@ static NSString	*originalUserName = nil;
 		}
 	    }
 
-          s = [defs stringForKey: @"Line"];
-          if (0 == [s length])
+          if (nil == (s = [defs stringForKey: @"Line"]))
             {
               s = [env objectForKey: @"ConsoleLine"];
             }
@@ -874,9 +873,10 @@ static NSString	*originalUserName = nil;
 
               /* Now, we may delay for 'Wait' seconds looking for a response
                * containing the 'Want' pattern or the 'Fail' pattern.
+               * An empty string as a command line argument turns off
+               * pattern matching specified in the environment.
                */
-              s = [defs stringForKey: @"Want"];
-              if (0 == [s length])
+              if (nil == (s = [defs stringForKey: @"Want"]))
                 {
                   s = [env objectForKey: @"ConsoleWant"];
                 }
@@ -886,8 +886,7 @@ static NSString	*originalUserName = nil;
                                                               options: 0
                                                                 error: 0];
                 }
-              s = [defs stringForKey: @"Fail"];
-              if (0 == [s length])
+              if (nil == (s = [defs stringForKey: @"Fail"]))
                 {
                   s = [env objectForKey: @"ConsoleFail"];
                 }
@@ -901,8 +900,7 @@ static NSString	*originalUserName = nil;
                 {
                   NSTimeInterval    ti;
 
-                  s = [defs stringForKey: @"Wait"];
-                  if (0 == [s length])
+                  if (nil == (s = [defs stringForKey: @"Wait"]))
                     {
                       s = [env objectForKey: @"ConsoleWait"];
                       if (0 == [s length])
@@ -915,8 +913,17 @@ static NSString	*originalUserName = nil;
                     target: self selector: @selector(waitEnded:)
                     userInfo: nil repeats: NO];
 
-                  if (YES == [defs boolForKey: @"Quiet"]
-                    || YES == [[env objectForKey: @"ConsoleQuiet"] boolValue])
+                  if ([defs objectForKey: @"Quiet"])
+                    {
+                      if ([defs boolForKey: @"Quiet"])
+                        {
+                          /* If we don't want any output, return without
+                           * setting the output channel up.
+                           */
+                          return self;
+                        }
+                    }
+                  else if ([[env objectForKey: @"ConsoleQuiet"] boolValue])
                     {
                       /* If we don't want any output, return without
                        * setting the output channel up.