diff --git a/src/App.cpp b/src/App.cpp
index 88768d6..5513a01 100644
--- a/src/App.cpp
+++ b/src/App.cpp
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ App::~App()
 
 
 void
-App::Init()
+App::Init(bool suppressWindow)
 {
 	BPath settingsPath;
 	find_directory(B_USER_SETTINGS_DIRECTORY, &settingsPath);
@@ -88,6 +88,8 @@ App::Init()
 	EditorWindow::SetPreferences(fPreferences);
 
 	Languages::LoadLanguages();
+
+	fSuppressInitialWindow = suppressWindow;
 }
 
 
@@ -200,36 +202,12 @@ App::QuitRequested()
 void
 App::ReadyToRun()
 {
-	if(CountWindows() == 0 && fSuppressInitialWindow == false) {
+	if(fSuppressInitialWindow == false && CountWindows() == 0) {
 		PostMessage(WINDOW_NEW);
 	}
 }
 
 
-void
-App::ArgvReceived(int32 argc, char** argv)
-{
-	BMessage* message = CurrentMessage();
-	BString cwd = message->GetString("cwd", "~");
-	std::unique_ptr<BWindowStack> windowStack;
-	for(int32 i = 1; i < argc; ++i) {
-		std::string arg = argv[i];
-		// FIXME: this should be handled in main.cpp probably
-		if(arg == "-w" || arg == "--wait" || arg == "-h" || arg == "--help")
-			continue;
-		int32 line, column;
-		std::string filename = ParseFileArgument(argv[i], &line, &column);
-		if(filename.find('/') != 0) {
-			BPath absolute(cwd.String(), filename.c_str(), true);
-			filename = absolute.Path();
-		}
-		entry_ref ref;
-		BEntry(filename.c_str()).GetRef(&ref);
-		_ActivateOrCreateWindow(message, ref, line, column, windowStack);
-	}
-}
-
-
 void
 App::RefsReceived(BMessage* message)
 {
@@ -248,8 +226,8 @@ App::RefsReceived(BMessage* message)
 				trackerMessage.AddRef("refs", &ref);
 				continue;
 			}
-			const int32 line = message->GetInt32("be:line", -1);
-			const int32 column = message->GetInt32("be:column", -1);
+			const int32 line = message->GetInt32("be:line", i, -1);
+			const int32 column = message->GetInt32("be:column", i, -1);
 			_ActivateOrCreateWindow(message, ref, line, column, windowStack);
 		}
 	}
@@ -263,9 +241,6 @@ void
 App::MessageReceived(BMessage* message)
 {
 	switch(message->what) {
-	case SUPPRESS_INITIAL_WINDOW: {
-		fSuppressInitialWindow = true;
-	} break;
 	case ACTIVATE_WINDOW: {
 		BWindow* window = nullptr;
 		if(message->FindPointer("window", (void**) &window) == B_OK && window != nullptr) {
diff --git a/src/App.h b/src/App.h
index f15ccfe..22965d1 100644
--- a/src/App.h
+++ b/src/App.h
@@ -24,7 +24,6 @@ class Styler;
 
 
 enum {
-	SUPPRESS_INITIAL_WINDOW		= 'Siwn',
 	WINDOW_NEW_WITH_QUIT_REPLY	= 'NWwn',
 	ACTIVATE_WINDOW = 'actw'
 };
@@ -38,12 +37,11 @@ class App : public BApplication {
 								App();
 								~App();
 
-	void						Init();
+	void						Init(bool suppressWindow);
 
 	void						AboutRequested();
 	bool						QuitRequested();
 	void						ReadyToRun();
-	void						ArgvReceived(int32 argc, char** argv);
 	void						RefsReceived(BMessage* message);
 	void						MessageReceived(BMessage* message);
 
diff --git a/src/main.cpp b/src/main.cpp
index c9feffe..81b1f9c 100644
--- a/src/main.cpp
+++ b/src/main.cpp
@@ -5,75 +5,137 @@
 
 #include "App.h"
 
-#include <string>
-
 #include <Roster.h>
 
+#include <iostream>
+#include <getopt.h>
+
+#include "EditorWindow.h"
 #include "Utils.h"
 
 
+void
+_PrintUsage()
+{
+	std::cerr
+		<< "Usage: Koder [options] file..." << std::endl
+		<< "Options:" << std::endl
+		<< "  -h, --help\t\tPrints this message." << std::endl
+		<< "  -w, --wait\t\tWait for the window to quit before returning." << std::endl
+		<< "\t\t\tOpening in window stacks is not supported in this mode." << std::endl
+		<< "\t\t\tCurrently accepts only one filename." << std::endl;
+}
+
+
+void
+_RunApp(bool suppressWindow)
+{
+	App* app = new App();
+	app->Init(suppressWindow);
+	app->Run();
+	delete app;
+}
+
+
 int
 main(int argc, char** argv)
 {
-	std::string arg1 = argc > 1 ? argv[1] : "";
-	if(argc > 1 && (arg1 == "-h" || arg1 == "--help")) {
-		fprintf(stderr, "Usage: Koder [options] file...\n");
-		fprintf(stderr, "Options:\n");
-		fprintf(stderr, "  -h, --help\t\tPrints this message.\n");
-		fprintf(stderr, "  -w, --wait\t\tWait for the window to quit before "
-			"returning.\n"
-			"\t\t\tOpening in window stacks is not supported in this mode.\n"
-			"\t\t\tCurrently accepts only one filename.\n");
+	// start the app immediately if we're being launched from the GUI in case we need to handle
+	// an initial BMessage, otherwise the message will be lost when we Launch() in the background
+	if(isatty(STDOUT_FILENO) == 0) {
+		_RunApp(false);
+		return 0;
+	}
+
+	int option_index = 0;
+	struct option long_options[] = {
+		{"help", no_argument, 0, 'h'},
+		{"wait", no_argument, 0, 'w'},
+		{"launchkoderapp", no_argument, 0, 0},
+		{0, 0, 0, 0}};
+
+	bool waitForExit = false;
+	int c;
+	while((c = getopt_long(argc, argv, "hw", long_options, &option_index)) != -1) {
+		switch(c) {
+			case 'w': {
+				waitForExit = true;
+			} break;
+			case 'h': {
+				_PrintUsage();
+				return 1;
+			} break;
+			case 0: {
+				if(strcmp(long_options[option_index].name, "launchkoderapp") == 0) {
+					_RunApp(true);
+					return 0;
+				}
+				return 1;
+			} break;
+			default:
+				_PrintUsage();
+				return 1;
+		}
+	}
+
+	if(waitForExit == true && argc - optind > 1) {
+		std::cerr << "Error: Only one filename allowed when using --wait." << std::endl;
 		return 1;
 	}
 
-	if(argc > 1 && (arg1 == "-w" || arg1 == "--wait")) {
-		if(argc > 3) {
-			fprintf(stderr, "Koder accepts only one filename when launching "
-				"in --wait mode.\n");
+	BMessage windowMessage;
+	if(waitForExit == true) {
+		windowMessage.what = WINDOW_NEW_WITH_QUIT_REPLY;
+	} else if(waitForExit == false && optind == argc) {
+		// no file arguments, open a blank window
+		windowMessage.what = WINDOW_NEW;
+	} else {
+		windowMessage.what = B_REFS_RECEIVED;
+	}
+
+	while(optind < argc) {
+		int32 line, column;
+		BPath filePath(ParseFileArgument(argv[optind++], &line, &column).c_str(), nullptr, true);
+		if(filePath.InitCheck() != B_OK) {
+			std::cerr << "Error: Invalid file path specified." << std::endl;
 			return 1;
 		}
-		BRoster roster;
-		team_id team = roster.TeamFor(gAppMime);
-		if(team == B_ERROR) {
-			BMessage* suppressMessage = new BMessage(SUPPRESS_INITIAL_WINDOW);
-			status_t status = roster.Launch(gAppMime, suppressMessage, &team);
-			delete suppressMessage;
-			if(status != B_OK && status != B_ALREADY_RUNNING) {
-				fprintf(stderr, "An issue occured while trying to launch Koder.\n");
-				return 1;
-			}
+
+		entry_ref ref;
+		BEntry entry(filePath.Path(), true);
+		if(entry.InitCheck() != B_OK || (entry.Exists() == true && entry.IsFile() == false)) {
+			std::cerr << "Error: Specified path is not a regular file." << std::endl;
+			return 1;
 		}
-		BMessage windowMessage(WINDOW_NEW_WITH_QUIT_REPLY);
-		// parse filename if any
-		// TODO: support -- for piping
-		if(argc > 2) {
-			int32 line, column;
-			std::string filename = ParseFileArgument(argv[2], &line, &column);
-			if(filename.find('/') != 0) {
-				BPath absolute(".", filename.c_str(), true);
-				filename = absolute.Path();
-			}
-			entry_ref ref;
-			BEntry(filename.c_str()).GetRef(&ref);
-			windowMessage.AddRef("refs", &ref);
-			if(line != -1) {
-				windowMessage.AddInt32("be:line", line);
-			}
-			if(column != -1) {
-				windowMessage.AddInt32("be:column", column);
-			}
+		if(entry.GetRef(&ref) != B_OK) {
+			std::cerr << "Error: Unable to get entry_ref for path." << std::endl;
+			return 1;
 		}
-		BMessenger messenger(gAppMime, team);
-		BMessage reply;
-		messenger.SendMessage(&windowMessage, &reply);
-		return 0;
-	} else {
-		App* app = new App();
-		app->Init();
-		app->Run();
-		delete app;
+		// always add column and line so that the count is the same as the number of refs
+		windowMessage.AddRef("refs", &ref);
+		windowMessage.AddInt32("be:column", column);
+		windowMessage.AddInt32("be:line", line);
+	}
 
-		return 0;
+	entry_ref appRef;
+	if(get_ref_for_path(argv[0], &appRef) != B_OK) {
+		std::cerr << "Error: Unable to determine Koder application path." << std::endl;
+		return 1;
 	}
+
+	BRoster roster;
+	team_id team;
+	const char* args[] = { "--launchkoderapp", nullptr };
+	// Use the entry_ref version of Launch() to make sure B_SINGLE_LAUNCH works correctly
+	status_t status = roster.Launch(&appRef, 1, args, &team);
+	if(status != B_OK && status != B_ALREADY_RUNNING) {
+		std::cerr << "Error: Unable to launch Koder." << std::endl;
+		return 1;
+	}
+
+	BMessenger messenger(gAppMime, team);
+	BMessage reply;
+	messenger.SendMessage(&windowMessage, &reply);
+
+	return 0;
 }