diff --git a/lib/puppet/face/parser.rb b/lib/puppet/face/parser.rb
index c99cbb747..3242faca7 100644
--- a/lib/puppet/face/parser.rb
+++ b/lib/puppet/face/parser.rb
@@ -1,42 +1,51 @@
 require 'puppet/face'
 require 'puppet/parser'
 
 Puppet::Face.define(:parser, '0.0.1') do
   copyright "Puppet Labs", 2011
   license   "Apache 2 license; see COPYING"
 
   summary "Interact directly with the parser."
 
   action :validate do
     summary "Validate the syntax of one or more Puppet manifests."
     arguments "[<manifest>] [<manifest> ...]"
     returns "Nothing, or the first syntax error encountered."
     description <<-'EOT'
       This action validates Puppet DSL syntax without compiling a catalog or
       syncing any resources. If no manifest files are provided, it will
       validate the default site manifest.
     EOT
     examples <<-'EOT'
       Validate the default site manifest at /etc/puppet/manifests/site.pp:
 
       $ puppet parser validate
 
       Validate two arbitrary manifest files:
 
       $ puppet parser validate init.pp vhost.pp
+
+      Validate from STDIN:
+
+      $ cat init.pp | puppet parser validate
     EOT
     when_invoked do |*args|
       args.pop
       files = args
       if files.empty?
-        files << Puppet[:manifest]
-        Puppet.notice "No manifest specified. Validating the default manifest #{Puppet[:manifest]}"
+        if not STDIN.tty?
+          Puppet[:code] = STDIN.read
+          Puppet::Node::Environment.new(Puppet[:environment]).known_resource_types.clear
+        else
+           files << Puppet[:manifest]
+           Puppet.notice "No manifest specified. Validating the default manifest #{Puppet[:manifest]}"
+        end
       end
       files.each do |file|
         Puppet[:manifest] = file
         Puppet::Node::Environment.new(Puppet[:environment]).known_resource_types.clear
       end
       nil
     end
   end
 end