diff --git a/fftools/cmdutils.c b/fftools/cmdutils.c
index be21ed2c6c..e442935cae 100644
--- a/fftools/cmdutils.c
+++ b/fftools/cmdutils.c
@@ -255,9 +255,10 @@ static int write_option(void *optctx, const OptionDef *po, const char *opt,
     if (*opt == '/') {
         opt++;
 
-        if (po->type == OPT_TYPE_BOOL) {
+        if (!opt_has_arg(po)) {
             av_log(NULL, AV_LOG_FATAL,
-                   "Requested to load an argument from file for a bool option '%s'\n",
+                   "Requested to load an argument from file for an option '%s'"
+                   " which does not take an argument\n",
                    po->name);
             return AVERROR(EINVAL);
         }